not only do the Jacobite gentry turn their backs upon him, when they meet him in the town, but the better class of Whigs hold altogether aloof from him, regarding his elevation, at the expense of his wife’s kinsman, to be disgraceful, although of course they have no idea of the evil plot by which he brought about my ruin.  There is great pity expressed for his wife, who has not once stirred beyond the grounds at Lynnwood since he took her there, and who is, they say, a shadow of her former self.  Ciceley, he hears, is well.  That cub of a son is in London, and there are reports that he is very wild, and puts his father to much cost.  As to the man himself, they say he is surrounded by the lowest knaves, and it is rumoured that he has taken to drink for want of better company.  It is some comfort to me to think that, although the villain has my estates, he is getting no enjoyment out of them.

“However, I hope some day to have a reckoning with him.  The Stuarts must come to their own, sooner or later.  Until then I am content to rest quietly here in Sweden.”

Chapter 8:  The Passage of the Dwina.

A few hours after Charlie’s arrival home, Major Jervoise and Harry came round to the house.

“I congratulate you, Jervoise, on your new rank,” Sir Marmaduke said heartily, as he entered; “and you, too, Harry.  It has been a great comfort to me, to know that you and Charlie have been together always.  At present you have the advantage of him in looks.  My lad has no more strength than a girl, not half the strength, indeed, of many of these sturdy Swedish maidens.”

“Yes, Charlie has had a bad bout of it, Carstairs,” Major Jervoise said cheerfully; “but he has picked up wonderfully in the last ten days, and, in as many more, I shall look to see him at work again.  I only wish that you could have been with us, old friend.”

“It is of no use wishing, Jervoise.  We have heard enough here, of what the troops have been suffering through the winter, for me to know that, if I had had my wish and gone with you, my bones would now be lying somewhere under the soil of Livonia.”

“Yes, it was a hard time,” Major Jervoise agreed, “but we all got through it well, thanks principally to our turning to at sports of all kinds.  These kept the men in health, and prevented them from moping.  The king was struck with the condition of our company, and he has ordered that, in future, all the Swedish troops shall take part in such games and amusements when in winter quarters.  Of course, Charlie has told you we are going to have a regiment entirely composed of Scots and Englishmen.  I put the Scots first, since they will be by far the most numerous.  There are always plenty of active spirits, who find but small opening for their energy at home, and are ready to take foreign service whenever the chance opens.  Besides, there are always feuds there.  In the old days, it was chief against