I am almost in despair, and I look to you alone to help me. I have a scare that there will be a severe outbreak of scarlet fever in Holmcastle, and I am afraid that you are the innocent cause thereof. As you read this, you will think, I know, that I want you to embark in some great drainage scheme, and perhaps to poison all Arrow Dale by the establishment of a Sewage Farm, as a work whereby to signalise your accession to power. In this, however, you are mistaken. The fact is, that all the best young men and lads in the village, with Luke Hebblethwaite at their head, are mad to enlist in the army, in order that they may serve under “the young Squire,” for so they all call you already. Only the louts and the ne’er-do-wells will remain behind, and agriculture and trade will be at a standstill. The fact is, my dear boy, you _ought_ to leave the army, in which you have already gained the highest possible distinction and honour, for you are _wanted_ at home, to fulfil the important duties which now devolve upon you as a landlord and country gentleman. Do pray, then, resign your commission, and come home for good. If your martial ardour should continue to burn hotly, you might join the N. L. Militia; and, between ourselves, I happen to know that the Lord-Lieutenant is bent upon offering you the command of the North Lancashire Volunteers. Think over this, and make up your mind to come home and be of _use_. My wife joins me in kind love to yourself and Evelyn, and to our truant Mary, who seems never to intend to come home. I am, as always, your affectionate friend, CHARLES ELTHORNE. Wilfred showed this and other letters of like tenour to his sister, and she, secretly egged on by her friend Mary, took the same side with his correspondents. Wilfred had certainly no wish to leave the army, but little by little he began to waver, and at last resolved to take counsel on the subject with the young Duke of Ribblesdale. To his surprise, he found that the Duke was all in favour of his resignation. And then he heard that great pressure was being brought to bear upon the Duke also, to induce him to take a similar step. In this way, then, it came about, that after much discussion, _pro_ and _con_, the two friends agreed that it was their duty to turn their swords into ploughshares, to live among their own people, and to endeavour to do their duty as country gentlemen and county magnates. In a short time the same gazette announced that Her Majesty had been pleased to accept the resignation of their commissions by Captain His Grace the Duke of Ribblesdale, and Lieutenant Wilfred Manwaring, V.C.