"I quarreled with your mother, Herbert, for marrying a man that I hated--yes, hated, Herbert, for he differed with me about the tariff and--the Trinity! Oh, how I hated him, boy, until he died! And then I wondered in my soul, as I wonder even now, how I ever could have been so infuriated against a poor fellow now cold in his grave, as I shall be in time. I wrote to my sister and expressed my feelings; but, somehow or other, Herbert, we never came to a right understanding again. She answered my letter affectionately enough, but she refused to accept a home for herself and child under my roof, saying that she thanked me for my offer, but that the house which had been closed against her husband ought never to become the refuge of his widow. After that we never corresponded, and I have no doubt, Herbert, that she, naturally enough, taught you to dislike me." "Not so, sir; indeed, you wrong her. She might have been loyal to my father's memory without being resentful toward you. She said that you had a noble nature, but it was often obscured by violent passions. On her dead-bed she bade me, should I ever meet you, to say that she repented her refusal of your offered kindness." "And consented that it should be transferred to her orphan boy?" added Old Hurricane, with the tears like raindrops in his stormy eyes. "No, sir, she said not so." "But yet she would not have disapproved a service offered to her son." "Uncle--since you permit me to call you so--I want nothing. I have a good berth in the Susan and a kind friend in her captain." "You have all your dear mother's pride, Herbert." "And all his uncle's!" put in Cap. "Hush, Magpie! But is the merchant service agreeable to you, Herbert?" "Not perfectly, sir; but one must be content." "Demmy, sir, my sister's son need not be content unless he has a mind to! And if you prefer the navy----" "No, sir. I like the navy even less than the merchant service." "Then what would suit you, lad? Come, you have betrayed the fact that you are not altogether satisfied." "On the contrary, sir, I told you distinctly that I really wanted nothing, and that I must be satisfied." "And I say, demmy, sir! you sha'n't be satisfied unless you like to! Come, if you don't like the navy, what do you say to the army, eh?" "It is a proud, aspiring profession, sir," said the young man, as his face lighted up with enthusiasm. "Then, demmy, if you like the army, sir, you shall enter it! Yes, sir! Demmy, the administration, confound them, has not done me justice, but they'll scarcely dare to refuse to send my nephew to West Point when I demand it." "To West Point!" exclaimed Herbert, in delight. "Ay, youngster, to West Point. I shall see to it when I pass through Washington on my way to Virginia. We start in the early train to-morrow morning. In the meantime, young man, you take leave of your captain, pack up your traps and join us. You must go with me and make Hurricane Hall your home until you go to West Point."