"Oh, I could see that he was in distress," broke in Comethup, hurriedly, "and when I'd got such a lot I couldn't very well let him go to London without a penny. You see, London is a big place, and he might starve--anything might happen. So I just gave him--well, just a little money; and I told him to write to me and let me know how he was getting on; I gave him my address in London." The captain was silent for a few moments, and then he said: "Well, well, I suppose you were right; you couldn't let the fellow go without a penny. But if I were you, Comethup, I shouldn't mention the matter to your aunt. I detest deceit, but there are some things it's just as well in this world to say nothing about. Miss Carlaw--very properly, no doubt--dislikes your cousin, and she might be hurt if she thought you were spending her money on him. Personally, I don't like the fellow, but I think it was the only thing you could do. But I don't think I'd say anything to Miss Carlaw about it." It was quite a new sensation, and a very pleasant and exciting one, to drive into the old town seated beside the captain. The eight years, which had seemed to bring so many changes to the growing boy, had not changed the place at all; it appeared a little dwarfed, perhaps, grown smaller and less imposing; the gaunt old buildings, which had towered to the sky in the imagination of the small child, had dwindled, in the eyes of the youth, to mere ordinary dwellings. But, best of all, the things about it that were changeless were the solemn hush and peace that lay upon it, a stillness that belonged to no other place. The roar of London, the busy, murmuring life of school, were dropped completely behind; it was like coming home to rest, to some little place set in the heart of woods, after the toil and fret of a long day. Homer was there, at the door of the captain's cottage, saluting in the old fashion; he had grown a little grayer and a little less erect in attitude. The old familiar room, looking out over the garden and the street, seemed smaller than before and a little shabbier. Of everything the boy remembered so well, the captain alone seemed as though the years had leaped over him and left him unaltered. Comethup was up very early the next morning--long before the captain had risen; he had a feeling that he would like to visit some of the old places alone. He lifted the latch of the cottage door--for no one thought of locking doors in that part of the country--and stole out softly through the garden and into the street. One or two early risers whom he passed looked at him curiously, and he thought he recognised some faces he had seen in the streets as a child. He sniffed the sweet morning air with delight, thinking how good it was to be rich and free and healthy; he might have thought, too, how good it was to be very young, but for the fact that he did not consciously appreciate that blessing.