"Just as I said--the bare top of a hill, with a wall round it, and stones of various sorts, crosses, monuments, and so on. All our officers were buried there." "And the men?" "Oh, anywhere. It didn't matter." It did not, I thought; but not exactly from Captain Treherne's point of view. However, he was scarcely the man with whom to have started an abstract argument. I might, had he been Doctor Urquhart. "Was Doctor Urquhart in the Crimea the whole time?" "To be sure. He went through all the campaign, from Varna to Sebastopol; at first unattached, and then was appointed to our regiment. Well for me that! What a three months I had after Inkerman! Shall I ever forget the day I first crawled out and sat on the benches in front of the hospital, on Balaklava Heights, looking down over the Black Sea?" I had never seen him serious before. My heart inclined even to Captain Treherne. "Was he ever hurt--Doctor Urquhart, I mean?" "Once or twice, slightly, while looking after his wounded on the field. But he made no fuss about it, and always got well directly. You see, he is such an extremely temperate man in all things--such a quiet temper--has himself in such thorough control--that he has twice the chance of keeping in health that most men have--especially our fellows there, who, he declares, died quite as much of eating, drinking, and smoking, as they did of Russian bullets." "Your friend must be a remarkable man." "He's a--a brick! Excuse the word--in ladies' society I ought not to use it." "If you ought to use it at all, you may do so in ladies' society." The youth looked puzzled. "Well, then, Miss Dora, he really is a downright _brick_--since you know what that means. Though an odd sort of fellow too; a tough customer to deal with--never lets go the rein; holds one in as tight as if he were one's father. I say, Charteris, did you ever hear the governor speak of Doctor Urquhart, of ours?" If Sir William had named such a person, Mr. Charteris had, unfortunately, quite forgotten it. Stay--he fancied he had heard the name at his club, but it was really impossible to remember all the names one knew, or the men. "You wouldn't have forgotten that man in a hurry, Miss Dora, I assure you. He's worth a dozen of---- but I beg your pardon." If it was for the look which he cast upon his cousin, I was not implacable. Francis always annoys me when he assumes that languid manner. For some things, I prefer Captain Treherne's open silliness--nothing being in his head, nothing can come out of it--to the lazy superciliousness of Francis Charteris; who, we know, has a great deal more in him than he ever condescends to let out, at least for our benefit. I should like to see if he behaves any better at his aforesaid club, or at Lady This's and the Countess of That's, of whom I heard him speak to Miss Emery.