"No, no, mother, please don't!" exclaimed Herbert; "Harold is well enough to prescribe for me, and I prefer him to any other doctor."
"As I should, if he were quite well," she said, regarding Harold with a proud, fond smile, which he returned, saying in cheerful tones, "My trouble is more weariness than illness, mother, and I hope a few days of rest here in the pleasant society of relatives and friends will quite restore me to wonted health and vigor."
"I hope so, indeed," she said, "and that Herbert may not be far behind you in recovering his."
In the meantime joyful greetings were being exchanged among the relatives and friends upon the porch, and the returned travellers were telling of what they had seen and heard in their absence, especially on the coast of Cuba. It was all very interesting to the auditors, but the tale was not half told when the tea-bell summoned them to their evening meal.
Chester had a good deal more to tell Lucilla as they wandered about the grounds together after leaving the table. And she was greatly interested.
"I should like to get aboard a battleship," she said; "particularly the Oregon. What a grand vessel it must be!"
"It is," said Chester, "and did grand work in that battle; a battle which will go down in history as a most remarkable one. I am proud of the brave tars who fought it, and not less so of the fine fellows who kept up the fires under the engines, which were as necessary to the gaining of the victory as was the firing of the guns."
"But, oh, the terrible carnage!" exclaimed Lucilla, with a shudder.
"Yes, that was awful; and what a wonder—what a cause for gratitude to God—that but one was killed and so few badly wounded on our ships."