But Mistress Alice was far from soon being strong and well again. The long period of nursing her sick father, his death, the loss of the Manor, and the harrowing experience of that wild night's ride to Falmouth, were too much for her worn constitution, and she succumbed to brain fever. Throughout the long period of her sickness Mrs. Trembath would have been sorely distressed had it not been for the generosity of Glaze and Puckinharn. Glaze, as a friend of the old squire, having received his patronage, thought he was in duty bound to leave a sovereign now and then in Mrs. Trembath's hands, and his nephew, having taken the pledge, found he had many spare shillings and sixpences to spend in so good a cause. CHAPTER XXX THE MAJOR'S HOME-COMING "Ande, son, we'll push straight on to the village; thy mother, lad, was always an early riser, and mayhap will have a light in the window," said the old Major, after they had eaten a light breakfast in the Angel Inn. Major Trembath and his son, Ande, had arrived three o'clock that morning at the Falmouth Breakwater. They had hurriedly left the ship and had taken the early morning stage coach for Helston, arriving there in time for an early breakfast. "Shall we get horses?" asked the son. "Horses, lad, what do I want with a horse? Have I not tramped scores of miles with the rifle over my shoulder, when I was a solitary hunter at the Loop. My limbs are as strong now as they were a score of years ago, and I doubt much, after these years of hunting and tramping, whether I would feel as much at home on horse-back as I would on my own feet. Then we must remember, lad, that though our name is untarnished and honourable, we are still poor, and it behooves us to be devotees of economy. Horses, no; they are not to be thought of." Ande acquiesced, and forth in the morning twilight they started. What a happy two-mile walk that was! The Major related tales of his youth associated with the section through which they wended their way, and the son related tales as well. The incident of the duck cave and the scared Greggs was forcibly brought to mind as they passed the cave, and he told the story much to the hearty amusement of his father. The activity of youth seemed to fill the frame of the old Major as he approached the proximity of the village. His steps seemed to lengthen and increase in rapidity. Then through the dim twilight the outlines of the village burst upon their vision, and then the Major strained his keen eyes to catch the first view of the Primrose Cottage. At length he saw it. "It's there still," he cried joyously, and then added, "But no light. Thy mother is late in rising, lad." They followed the roadway past the village and up the ascent to the cottage home. The hedges on either side of the little domain were sadly out of repair, and the Major noticed it. "Things gone badly since I was in these parts, but we will soon have them on a better footing."