Charles Eager, who had a searchingly appreciative eye for the beauties of God's handiwork in all its expressions, when he sped across the sands behind the corded muscles playing so exquisitely beneath the firm white flesh, or lay in the warm sand and watched the rise and fall of the wide, deep chest on which the salt drops from the tumbled mop of black hair rolled like diamonds, while up above the clean-cut nostrils went in and out like those of a hunted stag, said to himself that here was the making of en unusually fine man. He doubted if Jim's brain would carry him as far as Jack's, but all the same he could not but rejoice in him exceedingly. "Here," he mused, "is heart and body. And there is heart and brain,"--for at heart these two were very much alike still, open-handed, generous, and, by nature and Eager's own good training, clean and wholesome,--"which will go farthest?" And, following his train of thought to the point of speech, one day when he and Jim were alone, he said: "God has blessed you with a wonderfully fine body, lad. Where is it going to take you?" "Into the thick of the fighting, I hope, if ever there is any more fighting," said Jim, with a hopeful laugh. "One fights with brains as well as with brawn"--with an intentional touch of the spur to see what would come of it. "Oh, Jack's got the brains--and the brawn too," he added quickly, lest he should seem to imply any pre-eminence on his own part in that respect. "He'll die a general. I'll maybe kick out captain--if I'm not a sergeant-major,"--with another merry laugh. "I'd sooner fight in the front line any day than order them from the rear." "God save us from the horrors of another war," said Eager fervently. "I can just remember Waterloo. Every friend we had was in mourning, and sorrow was over the land." "And there is another Napoleon in the saddle," said Jim. "Ay; a menace to the world at large! An ambitious man, and somewhat unscrupulous, I fear. To keep himself in the saddle he may set the war-horse prancing." "I'm for the cavalry myself," said Jim, and Eager smiled at the characteristic irrelevancy. "I shall try for Sandhurst. Jack's for Woolwich." "Even Sandhurst will need some grinding up." "Oh, I'll grind when the time comes "--somewhat dolefully. "You can get crammers who know the game and are up to all the twists and turns. If I can only crawl through and get the chance of some fighting, I'll show them!" CHAPTER XXIV AN UNEXPECTED GUEST One afternoon, in one of their winter holidays, Gracie and the two boys had been down along the shore to visit Mrs. Rimmer and Kattie, especially Kattie. They were tramping home along the crackling causeway of dried seaweed and the jetsam in which of old they had sought for treasure, and chattering merrily as they went. "Kattie's getting as pretty as a--as a----" stumbled Jim after a comparison equal to the subject. "Wild-rose," suggested Gracie. "Sweet-pea," said Jack.