"There are pages in every man's life," he said, "which he does not care to lift again when they are once turned down. I have not asked you for your secret; respect mine."
"But I have nothing to conceal," said McKay, quickly. "I am ready enough to tell you why I enlisted."
"As you please; but, mind, I have not asked you."
There was little encouragement in this speech; but McKay ignored it, and went on—
"I enlisted because I could not enter the army in any other way. My friends could not afford to purchase me a commission."
"Why were you so wild to become a soldier?"
"It was my father's profession. He was a captain in—"
"That should have given you a claim for an ensigncy, as an officer's son."
"But my father was not in the English service. He was only half an Englishman, really."
"Indeed! How so?"