Dick shook his head, and the colonel frowned again.
“Well, I have no right to inquire, I suppose, but you are not fit to go on tramp again to-night, my lad,” continued the colonel, kindly; “and you had better mind where you go to sleep. Those instruments of yours are good, are they not?”
“Oh, yes,” said Dick, eagerly; “they are both of the best make.”
“And you have practised a great deal?”
“Oh, yes, sir—a great deal.”
“Doesn’t it seem strange to you, then, that a decentish-looking young fellow, who can play well, should be regularly on tramp and coming to enlist?”
“Yes, sir, very.”
“Well, he had better stay here to-night—eh, Doctor?”
“Most advisable,” said the keen-looking surgeon.
“Wilkins, you had better take charge of your fellow-musician,” said the colonel.