Lettice gave a toss of the head and sprang into her saddle. For some reason she was not pleased with this young gentleman this morning; he had been far too cautious in showing her attentions, and had been too evidently anxious that no one should discern any difference in his manner toward the two girls; and besides, Lettice resented his saying that it would be as well that they should not take Rhoda into their confidence, and yet she had several times come upon the two in close conference, and once had overheard Rhoda say, “I will see that the matter is kept a secret, but we must be very cautious.” So Lettice, with a feeling that she could not quite trust him, and that he might be playing a double part, was most cool toward him, and eagerly seconded her sister Betty’s proposition to go.
It was a few days later that William and James returned. They came galloping in one evening full of accounts of their skirmishes.
“It’s a great life,” said Jamie; “but I mean to join Barney. We don’t get enough service here on shore, and on sea they are always popping at each other.”
“Then I needn’t return you the packet you gave into my keeping,” Lettice said.
James smiled. “No, keep it safe, and if I want it when the war is over, I will ask you for it, and if I fall, bestow it as I directed you.”
“Lettice,” her brother William’s voice broke in, “where are those papers? Are they safely hidden?”
“Yes, I hid them with my own hands,” she replied.
“I shall want them soon.”
“To-night?”
“Hardly, I think. I will let you know if I require them; but they must be sent off the first opportunity, for there are government secrets among them.”