The Duke said no more just then, but when little Jacob was dressed to go down to dessert, his Grace's valet, Thompson, knocked at the door, and brought a gold watch with a short chain, wherewith the young gentleman proudly adorned himself. One of the first things he did was to go to the Duke and thank him; and he did it so nicely that the nobleman was pleased to say that when little Jacob went to Eton he might "show his watch to the fellows, and tell 'em who gave it him." CHAPTER XXXIX. GOOD-BYE TO LITTLE JACOB. Little Jacob was in luck's way, for the day he left Wenderholme Cottage the Colonel tipped him with a five-pound note. He had a private interview, too, with Miss Edith, and there was quite a little scene between the infantine lovers. "Are you really going away to-day, Charley?" she said, using the name she had given him. "Yes; Mr. Prigley says he must go back on account of Shayton Church. It will be Sunday to-morrow, you know." "And when will you come back to us again?" "I don't know. Perhaps never." "Perhaps never!" exclaimed Miss Edith; "and aren't you very sorry?" "Yes, very sorry. I have been very happy here." "Well, then, you must come again. I wish you would. I like you very much. You are a nice boy," and the frank young lady made him a small present--a little gold pin with a turquoise in it. "Keep that; you must never lose it, you know--it is a keepsake." When little Jacob left with Mr. Prigley, Mrs. Stanburne was very kind to him, and said he must come again some time. This cheered Edith's heart considerably, but still there was a certain moisture in her eyes as she bade farewell to her boy-friend. And in the same way I, who write this, feel a sadness coming over me which is not to be resisted. Children _never_ live long. When they are not carried away in little coffins, and laid for ever in the silent grave, they become transformed so rapidly that we lose them in another way. The athletic young soldier or Oxonian, the graceful heroine of the ball-room, may make proud the parental heart, but can they quite console it for the eternal loss of the little beings who plagued and enlivened the early years of marriage? A father may sometimes feel a legitimate and reasonable melancholy as he contemplates the most promising of little daughters, full of vivacity and health. How long will the dear child remain to him? She will be altered in six months; in six years she will be succeeded by a totally different creature--a creature new in flesh and blood and bone, thinking other thoughts and speaking another language. There is a sadness even in that change which is increase and progression; for the glory of noon-day has destroyed the sweet delicacy of the dewy Aurora, and the wealth of summer has obliterated the freshness of the spring.