"The Cap’en is just doing ’imself a treat, sir," he told me. "That there Miss Milly ’as come to ’er senses at last, sir, and all’s going to end ’appy like. The Admiral ’as been and read ’The Articles of War’ to ’er, I reckon, and the Cap’en ’e won’t be wanting Mrs. J. and myself to keep house for him no longer." "Have you seen your wife yet?" I asked him; and his face dropped as he answered somewhat mournfully, "Well, sir, I ain’t finished my leave yet." Helston came in presently, looking marvellously well and full of animation. "It’s all right, old chap," he sang out, as he nearly wrenched my hand off. "Milly is going to marry me directly I’m promoted, and, from what they tell me at the Admiralty, I shall be promoted in July without a doubt. You must be my best man, old chap; and the Admiral is bringing her up for a week or so, and we four will have a jolly good time before we go down to Fareham." My "jolly good time" meant, as I expected, looking after the Admiral and listening to his endless and pointless yarns. However, I did not mind for once in a way, and should have quite enjoyed myself if Milly herself had seemed happy. But, poor little soul, I could see that she was not, and one evening, when we happened to be alone in the private sitting-room, after a very tiring day, she suddenly came over to where I was reading the evening-paper, buried her head on my shoulder, and burst out crying. She broke my spectacles, too, which was a nuisance. As far as I could gather between her sobs, she was feeling frightfully lonely, wanted a mother, which, poor little soul, she had not had since she was two years old, and didn’t want to marry anyone. I sent her off to bed, and went out to buy another pair of spectacles. I had an idea that the old Admiral would not be so keen for her to marry Helston if he had known that Hopkins had left her all his money, and told him all about it; but I had misjudged the old man, for the first thing he said was: "Well, Helston deserves it, if any man does, and Helston shall have it, too," so I could say no more. Next morning Milly was in the most boisterous spirits. *CHAPTER XXVI* *Home Again* Home at Last!—The Big Gun Again—Milly’s Wedding _Mr. Midshipman Glover tells of his home-coming_ Hurrah! How jolly good it is to be back at home once more! You shore-going loafers don’t know what it is like to feel that in an hour or two you will drop the Ushant light and pick up the Eddystone. It’s pretty bad sometimes when it is the other way about, and you are going away and don’t know how long it will be before you will see Old England again; but it’s just worth it all to come back, see the Eddystone sticking up out of the sea, and then make Plymouth and the green hills of Devonshire and of Cornwall. You people who stay at home all your lives don’t know what England is like till you have lost sight of her.