Old Peter Constable continued to have no scruple on the point of maintaining his son at Oxford, because at the end of Oliver’s first term there occurred a passage between the father and son which may sound incredible, but which actually had a precedent, that appeared in print in the life of a Scotch earl and his heir. The miller, like the old Earl of Elgin, feeling highly gratified by his boy’s success, thought to reward it by sending him as big a cheque as the elder man felt justified in giving over and above the younger man’s income, bidding him spend that in any manner which might please him best. And the young miller, like the young earl, returned the cheque with a grateful acknowledgment of the kindness of the intention, and an announcement that he had no use for the money; he was amply provided with the sinews of war already; he would rather the sum were spent in procuring some special pleasure for the father, who was frugal and self-denying in his personal habits, or for the sister Fan, who, being a girl—and an only and motherless girl—needed particular indulgence. It remained to be proved whether the young miller would follow up his extraordinary moderation by a career in any respect parallel to that of the patriotic statesman. But in spite of Peter Constable’s pride and confidence in his son from the beginning, it had not been without a certain ruefulness that the man had consented to the single lad of the Constables’ household forsaking the old path, which in Peter’s eyes was the safest and pleasantest in the world, and which had been trodden smooth—as it were, sprinkled white—for young Oliver by his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather. The Constables were not of a rank to go beyond a great-grandfather, but there had been at least three generations of them in Friarton Mill and Friarton bakehouse, and mill and bakehouse had flourished under the Constables’ rule, and had been known far and wide for as unadulterated, well-ground flour, and as honestly kneaded bread as could be expected from fallible men. The staff of life, preserved as nearly as possible intact, had proved a boon to the community, while the community in its turn had rewarded its faithful servants by becoming their steady patrons. Of course the mill and the bakehouse must pass away from the family if Oliver developed into a scholar and gentleman, unless, to be sure, Fan married a miller and baker, which did not seem likely. On the whole, fully sensible as Peter felt that Oliver was a credit and even an honour to his people, the miller would a good deal rather that his son had remained in his own rank of life, and taken over from his failing hands the old mill, which was the next thing to ‘parent, child and wife’ in its owner’s estimation.