Upon the following day the party went up to London, and were joined next morning by Mr. and Mrs. Withers.  Mabel declared that she did not think any people ever could have enjoyed themselves so much as they all did.  They went to Exeter ’Change to see the animals and to the theater at Drury Lane, to the Tower and Ranelagh Gardens, to Westminster Abbey and St. Paul’s, and they went down by coach to Hampton Court and to Greenwich, and they saw his majesty the king review the Guards in Hyde Park.  Altogether it was a glorious fortnight.  Mr. Penfold was the life and soul of the party, and had he had his way they would have seen far more than they did.  But Mr. and Mrs. Withers and Mrs. Conway all said that they wanted to enjoy themselves and not to be worn out, and several times they stayed at home when Mr. Penfold and the two young people went to see sights, or to wander about the streets and look at the shops, which was as great a treat as any thing.  Mr. Penfold went with Ralph to a military tailor and ordered his outfit, and to other shops, where he purchased such a stock of other garments that Mrs. Conway declared Ralph would require nothing for years.  On the last day of the fortnight the uniforms and trunks and clothes all arrived at the hotel, and of course Ralph had to dress up and buckle on his sword for the first time.  Mrs. Conway shed a few tears, and would have shed more had not Mr. Penfold made every one laugh so; and Mabel was seized with a fit of shyness for the first time in her life when Mr. Penfold insisted that the ladies should all kiss the young officer in honor of the occasion.  And the next morning the whole party went down to the wharf below London Bridge to see Ralph on board the packet for Cork.  Before leaving the hotel Mr. Penfold slipped an envelope with ten crisp five pound notes in it into Ralph’s hand.

“I have paid in, my boy, two hundred pounds to the regimental agents, and in future shall make you an allowance of the same amount every year.  You will see what other officers spend.  My advice to you is:  do not spend more than others, and do not spend less.  Money will keep very well, you know, and a little reserve may always come in useful.  When you once go on foreign service you will not find much occasion for money.  I want you just to hold your own with others.  I consider that it is quite as unfortunate for a young man to spend more than those around him as it is for him to be unable to spend as much.  No, I don’t want any thanks at all.  I told your mother I should look after you, and I am going to, and it has given a vast pleasure to me to have such an interest.  Write to me occasionally, my boy; your letters will give me great pleasure.  And should you get into any scrape, tell me frankly all about it.”