“I hope you do not mind,” she said to the captain, when he asked her point blank if the rumour was true.

“No, not at all,” was the reply.  “But I wish to goodness ye’d given us a little warnin’.  It was as great a surprise as when that bear charged me up the brook.  I wasn’t expectin’ it.”

“Oh, I hope it was not as bad as that,” was the laughing response, for the singer had heard all about the adventure with the bear.

“Not hardly as bad, Miss.  But the scouts are all upset.  When not playin’ baseball, they are talkin’ about what happened at the Review, till I’m almost discouraged.”

“It’s only natural, captain.  They’ll get over their excitement in time.  I could not resist the temptation of writing to the Lieutenant-Governor.  It would have been a shame for your boys not to have received credit for what they did, and I feel sure that all the other scouts present at the Review were helped by the story of their noble deed.  I have just had a nice long letter from Whyn, and she is delighted with what the scouts have accomplished.  She sends her good wishes to the boys, and thanks them over and over again for their kindness to her.”

“How’s she gittin’ along?” the captain enquired.  “It’s been a week since we’ve had a letter from her.”

“She is doing nicely, so she says, and the doctor thinks she will be able to come home for Christmas.”

“Will she be well then?”

“It seems so.  The operation was pronounced a decided success, though it will take some time yet for her to get strong.”

“She’s the finest girl that ever drew breath,” and the captain turned away his face so as not to show the mistiness which had suddenly dimmed his eyes.  “She’s a plucky one, sure.”

Three weeks after the Review Anna Royanna left Hillcrest.  This was a great grief not only to the scouts but to the Royals as well.  But the promise that she would visit them at Christmas if she could possibly arrange it, gave them some comfort.  This bright sympathetic woman had entered so much into their lives, and had shared their joys and sorrows as one of themselves, that when she was gone they felt depressed for days.

With the passing of summer came the fall, with long cold nights, and heavy winds.  The scouts found it pleasant to meet in their snug room around the genial fire.  Gradually they began to settle down to the work for the first-class tests, and also to review what they had already learned.

“Yez must never imagine that ye know a thing thoroughly,” the captain reminded them.  “Fer instance, there is yer signallin’.  Ye should be able to make each letter without thinkin’ how it is to be made.  And I want yez to practise up the Morse system, as well as the Semaphore.  It’ll come in mighty handy at night, when ye can’t use the flags.  Yez kin never know too much.”

The scouts found great pleasure in carrying out the captain’s suggestion.  By means of bull’s-eye lanterns they were soon able to send and receive messages at night in a most creditable manner.  For a while the neighbours were startled by this performance until they learned the cause of the flashes through the darkness.