"I will promise that. I do not wish to do anything contrary to law."
"Then that is all for the present, Mrs. Ruthven, and I will bid you good-day."
"When do you expect to come back again?"
"As soon as my duties will permit. The Yankees are pressing us hard, and I cannot neglect my duties as a surgeon in our army."
In a moment more the doctor was gone. Mrs. Ruthven watched him out of sight, then sank in a chair, all but overcome. Old Ben saw her and came up, hat in hand, his honest face full of genuine grief.
"Missus, dis am de worst wot I eber did heah," he said. "De idea, dat dat man wants to take our Jack away! It am dreadful!"
"Yes, Ben; I do not know how I can endure it."
"He don't look like Jack one bit; not one bit, missus!"
"I know it, Ben. He says Jack resembles his brother Walter."
"Maybe he dun nebber had a brudder Walter."