"There, take that and sit down here. If you're sharp you'll soon get into the way of it; and if any of these people take advantage of your youth and innocence, I'll be the death of them. Now, boys and girls, on we go again!" Comethup, child though he was, soon got into the excitement of the thing. With promptings from the others, he learned what to do and what to say, and, fortune favouring him, he went to his room that night with his stock of money still further increased. Altogether, he thought it was rather a glorious business, and couldn't quite understand why some of the men wore sour looks when they went away. It became quite a regular thing for the child to take his place among those excited, eager gamblers. Time after time he went to bed in the small hours of the morning, sometimes so worn out that he was glad to let the sympathetic Gwilt undress him and lift him into bed. Sometimes he made horrible blunders with the cards and lost heavily; sometimes he won. But, under any circumstances, it did not affect him, for his aunt was careful to see that he always had plenty of money. They drove out nearly every day, and seemed to spend a great part of their time in shops. Miss Charlotte Carlaw had a perfect passion for buying. Anything that was pointed out to her, and of which she approved, or anything that the boy noticed, was bought at once. She encouraged Comethup to spend his money royally, and never hesitated for an instant about anything she thought he would like, however costly it might be. The whirl and the excitement and the intoxication of the new life were upon him, so that he had but little time for thought; yet sometimes he found his thoughts straying back to the simple life in the old town, which seemed all so very far away, and to the simple people he had known and loved there. He ventured to approach his aunt on the subject one day when they were alone. "Aunt, I've been thinking--about the captain," he began timidly. "What captain?" she asked sharply. "_The_ captain--Captain Garraway-Kyle. You remember he was very kind to me." "Ah! So you're getting tired of me, are you?" "Indeed, no," said Comethup. "I'm sure you don't think that. But I've thought of the captain very often, and I shouldn't like him to think that I'd forgotten him. Besides, you asked him to come and see me yourself." "Quite right, Comethup, quite right. I'm a foolish old woman, and you're a good fellow not to forget your old friend. Write to him to-night, and ask him to come here and stay as long as he likes. Tell him to let you know by what train he is coming, and on what day, and you can drive down to the station to meet him. Will that satisfy you?"