But Ned went up alone. All that was good in Vere clung to Ned, and whatever sense of peace and strength he knew, he had met only in Dr. Brown's home, but he felt he could not face his grandfather's anger, nor give up in a moment his habits of idleness, and his drifting into doubtful pleasures rather than seeking them. After the meeting the boys stood together, Ned quivering with the thought that he had pledged every fibre of his strong young body forever to the service of the Lord who had died for him. Vere said eagerly, "I feel as you do, Ned, but I can't go forward. If you were in my place--if my grandfather were yours, you would keep your religion to yourself for a little while." And Ned, as was his habit, excused Vere and believed him. So the boys parted, Ned joining his grandfather who pressed five guineas into Ferguson's hand, as he bade him good-bye, saying, "If ever thee passes this way again, George, remember my house is also the home of all weary pilgrims on the road to Canaan, no matter what the colour of their coats may be." The young soldier listened with bowed head, until he went off, and it was six months later that a messenger brought Dr. Brown and Ned a thick letter from Battle Barracks, Sussex, where Ferguson's regiment was quartered. Ned's letter was mainly advice to young Christians, mixed with bits of the writer's experiences. "In a crowded, noisy room," Ferguson wrote, "I have learnt the secret of lying on my cot so shut away in spirit from my surroundings, that I can hear the voices that speak to my soul as distinct as if I was in a solitude." Ned was walking just outside the town as he read the letter, and then he met Vere, who exclaimed excitedly, "Glorious news, Ned! Sir John's going to get me a commission as soon as I'm sixteen--next month, and I'll be off to see life in his Majesty's service." In spite of his up-bringing in a Quaker home Ned felt half-envious of his friend's future, and Vere went on impulsively. "What are you going to be, Ned? You don't want to spend your life taking pills to old women. Of course you couldn't expect your grandfather to help you to be a soldier, yet it's the only life for a gentleman. Why don't you write to your father and tell him you want to enter the army like me? That little cat, Bee, talks as if he was quite well off--almost a gentleman." Ned did not answer, he really knew nothing of his father. Certainly very interesting and valuable presents came to him every year on his birthday, from far-off York, where Mr. Edgar lived with the second wife he had married and her three little boys; but he seemed to have given his eldest son entirely up to his grandfather.