And he murmured, half to himself, the words of the prophet,--"'Thou saidst, I shall sit as a lady for ever: but these two things shall come upon thee in one day, widowhood and the loss of children. They shall even come upon thee,'--No! not in their fulness! There are noble elements beneath the crust, which will come out all the purer from the fire; and we shall have heroes and heroines rising up among us as of old, sincere and earnest, ready to face their work, and to do it, and to call all things by their right names once more; and Queen Whims herself will become what Queen Whims might be!" Valencia was awed, as well she might have been; for there was a very deep sadness about Campbell's voice. "You think there will be def--disasters?" said she, at last. "How can I tell? That we are what we always were, I doubt not. Scoutbush will fight as merrily as I. But we owe the penalty of many sins, and we shall pay it." It would be as unfair, perhaps, as easy, to make Major Campbell a prophet after the fact, by attributing to him any distinct expectation of those mistakes which have been but too notorious since. Much of the sadness in his tone may have been due to his habitual melancholy; his strong belief that the world was deeply diseased, and that some terrible purgation would surely come, when it was needed. But it is difficult, again, to conceive that those errors were altogether unforeseen by many an officer of Campbell's experience and thoughtfulness. "We will talk no more of it just now." And they walked up to Penalva Court, seriously enough. "Well, Scoutbush, any letters from town?" said the Major. "Yes." "You have heard what has happened at D---- Barracks?" "Yes." "You had better take care then, that the like of it does not happen here." "Here?" "Yes. I'll tell you all presently. Have you heard from head-quarters?" "Yes; all right," said Scoutbush, who did not like to let out the truth before Valencia. Campbell saw it and signed to him to speak out. "A11 right?" asked Valencia. "Then you are not going?" "Ay, but I am! Orders to join my regiment by the first of October, and to be shot as soon afterwards as is fitting for the honour of my country. So, Miss Val, you must be quick in making good friends with the heir-at-law; or else you won't get your bills paid any more." "Oh, dear, dear!" And Valencia began to cry bitterly. It was her first real sorrow. Strangely enough, Major Campbell, instead of trying to comfort her, took Scoutbush out with him, and left her alone with her tears. He could not rest till he had opened the whole cholera question. Scoutbush was honestly shocked. Who would have dreamed it? No one had ever told him that the cholera had really been there before. What could he do? Send for Thurnall? Tom was sent for; and Scoutbush found, to his horror, that what little he could have ever done ought to have been done three months ago, with Lord Minchampstead's improvements at Pentremochyn.