And now he was sitting moodily by her fireside, listening to her
light, easy flow of talk and asking himself certain questions, which
he was powerless to answer.
As he rose at last, some sudden impulse made him speak from the very
midst of his train of thought.
"Did you know he had refused a commission?" he asked, regardless of
antecedents.
She made no pretence of misunderstanding him.
"No. Did he?"
"Yes. Mitchell told me, this morning."
"I wonder why."
"He said he had pledged himself to stay with the rank and file, that
it was easier to take orders than to give them."
"Strange!" she said thoughtfully.
"Strange that he should feel so?"
She shook her head.
"No. He told me about that, coming out. I am not surprised. But it
is strange that he shouldn't have spoken of the matter now."
"It was like him. He doesn't tell all his best deeds," Captain
Frazer said, with direct frankness "Still, I thought it was fairer
that you should know."
Her color came, as she met his eyes; but she offered no question in
regard to the meaning of his final phrase.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Good reason they call them kopjes," Carew grumbled scornfully, as
he swept his arm about the encircling landscape.
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