"So much, Fardie; I wish you would never go. Humphie, don't we miss Fardie dreadfully when he's away, and wish he would never go?"
Sir Everard glanced at his elder boy, as if hoping to hear him confirm his little brother's words, but Humphrey was still looking thoughtfully up, out of the window, and took no notice.
"What is he thinking about?" whispered Sir Everard to Miles.
"I don't know," said Miles, softly; "perhaps he's wishing very hard for a mirror."
Whatever the boy was wishing for, it must have been something which he felt he could never have, for the brown eyes were full of tears as they gazed up into the blue sky.
"Wait a minute," breathed Miles, "he'll say how we miss you, when he's done thinking; often, when he's thinking, he doesn't answer me till he's quite done what he's thinking about."
With the tears still standing in them, the eyes suddenly sparkled with a new feeling, and Humphrey sprang to the window, exclaiming,—
"A hawk! I do declare; and he'll have the sparrow in a minute!"
Sir Everard looked disappointed, and drew Miles closer to him.
"He's not thinking about us, is he, darling?"