CHAPTER XV.
SOLDIERS OF THE TRUE BLUE.
The schoolroom was very daintily arranged; there were flowers on themantelpiece and on a little table, near which an arm-chair had beenplaced for Uncle Peter. On the table were some sheets of foolscappaper, a bottle of ink, pen, blotting-paper, &c. Just as the childrenentered, the door was opened and Uncle Peter himself came in. Hegenerally wore a smiling face, but now he looked grave and determined.He walked across the room with, as Nan expressed it, his most militarystep. He stopped when he came opposite the children, and bowed gravelyto them, and then sat down in the chair.
"It is too exciting for anything!" thought Kitty. "How is he going tobegin? I am sure he has made all his plans. I can judge that by hisface; it is the sort of face which makes me thrill and want to doanything in the world for him."
Miss Roy had taken her place with the children. She looked grave andearnest, too, and Augusta for a wild moment wished she was out of it.Then the Captain raised his eyes. He had been arranging the paperbefore him, and trying the pen to see if it would write smoothly. Nowhe began to address the little group in front of him.
"I have been thinking over our scheme," he said in his most pleasantvoice; "and if you are all determined, I want you to take, not an oathto me--nothing of that sort--but to take a promise, by which you willbe enrolled. The regiment in which you will be members we will callthe Royal True Blue. I am its captain, general, or what you will; and,as far as possible, the rules which will guide your conduct will bemuch the same rules as a real regiment which serve our King wouldhave. Loyalty will be its motto. There are three ways in which thesoldiers can serve in the Royal True Blue. They can serve by keenattention to intellectual matters, by keen attention to physicalmatters, and by keen attention to morals."
Miss Roy nodded her head as each of these remarks fell from theCaptain's lips.
"I quite agree with you," she said; and then she coloured slightly.
The Captain looked at her and gave a smile.
"There will be," he said, "different grades, of course; month by monththe soldiers will rise to higher and higher responsibilities. Therewill be an orderly-book, in which Miss Roy, in my absence, must writedown the events of every day truthfully, exactly as they occur to her.Neglect of the different heads under which the soldiers serve willmerit punishment; careful attention to these details will meritrewards. I shall visit the soldiers' camp at least every month, have aconsultation with Miss Roy, who will be my sergeant, and measure outmy rewards and punishments accordingly. I should like this scheme tocontinue until the end of the summer holidays, when to the victorioussoldier I will award, if she deserves it, something similar to theVictoria Cross. It will be a cross made of silver, tied with blueribbon, and will be as far as possible an imitation of the cross whichher late beloved Majesty gave to her most distinguished soldiers.Perhaps you all understand what alone wins a Victoria Cross? It isgiven 'for valour'--for valour, as a rule, in the field of battle.Now, as you are all soldiers you must have a field of battle. Yourbattlefield is in this house; wherever you are together, whether youare in the country or in town; in your school; in your own rooms, whenyou lie down and when you rise up: at all times you soldiers of theRoyal True Blue will be in the battlefield, and doubtless a time forvalour will arrive--when one of you will endanger herself for the sakeof another. It is possible that none of these soldiers will win theRoyal Cross, but I mean to hold it out as an incentive--the very bestI can give. And now, children, I have lectured enough; will you eachin turn come forward and make the necessary promise?"
"Oh, this is dreadful!" said Augusta; she squeezed Nan's hand in herexcitement. "I--I do not think I can."
"But I can," said Nan. "I can; I mean to."
"What is it, Augusta--are you frightened?" said the Captain. "Oh,come! you promised to join; do not draw back now. You do not know whata world of good it will do you. This scheme means bracing; it means astrong effort to do the right. Come! if you live in this house youwill have a dull time if you are not a soldier."
"All right," said Augusta; "but I will not be the first to take thepromise."
"Then you shall be the first, Kitty," said the Captain; "that is onlyright, for it is your scheme."
Kitty rose from her chair and came forward. Captain Richmond had somesmall pieces of blue ribbon fastened with silver mottoes. He held oneof these up, and Kitty approached. He took her hand, looked solemnlyinto her eyes, and said:
"Are you willing to serve in the Royal True Blue as a soldier of theKing of Heaven? Are you willing to obey the rules of the regiment, tobe loyal and true, to shun what is deceitful and wrong? Are youwilling?"
"Yes," said Kitty.
Then the Captain bent forward and kissed her.
"This is our seal of consecration," he said; "and here is your motto.Wear it openly when you like, or when you do not care to show it tothe world keep it safely hidden, but never lose it. On the day it istaken from you you are disgraced; you lose this ribbon as a soldierloses his sword--only by public disgrace."
Kitty went back to her seat trembling and with tears in her eyes. Thesame promise was exacted from the others, and then Captain Richmondlooked at the four.
"I am very proud of my battalion," he said, "and I think you will alldo well, soldiers of the Royal True Blue. Now, I want to give you afew directions. There are three distinct paths in which the soldiersmust walk. First, there is the path of intellect. Now, that meansgreat attention to your lessons at school; it means diligent reading.I do not mean that kind of slippery reading which goes on when one isthinking of a hundred things at the same time: I do not mean thereading of silly novels. I mean the reading of good books,stimulating, with nice thoughts in them. There is nothing to my mindlike the life of a soldier, and there is nothing more splendid than toread accounts of what brave soldiers have done; and as you five arenow soldiers, you might, during the months that you servo under me,read as many books about soldiers as possible. I can furnish you witha list. I believe such reading will do you a lot of good. This, ofcourse, is not a command of mine; it is a suggestion which you maylike to carry out. In the orderly-book there will be careful reports ofyour transgressions in intellectual respects; the number of bad marksat school, the getting down to the bottom of your form, lateness alsoin attending your different classes, will all mean marks against you.On the other hand, diligence in learning, briskness and anxiety toexcel, will mean good marks. I will explain the marks to my sergeant,Miss Roy, presently. So much for intellect. Now we come to thephysical part of the scheme. I believe very strongly in physicalexercise. I do not mean the sort of exercise which tires one todeath--over-cycling, for instance, or playing lawn-tennis toolong--but I do mean steady exercise every day; and part of your dutieswill be your drill. I will speak to Mrs. Richmond, and she will get areal army sergeant to come here daily to drill you. You will feel asyou are marching, and turning from right to left, and going throughthe different maneuvers that you are real soldiers, and it will doyou a world of good. Other exercise ought also to be taken, and underthis head I would advocate early rising. I would also advocate orderand neatness. Each day ought to be planned out, and there ought to bevery little time for idling, for a real soldier in the enemy's countryhas to be on the alert morning, noon, and night. He ought never to beaway from his post; he ought to watch for the approach of the enemy atevery corner, at every unexpected point. We now come to the thirdhead, which surely is the most important of all, for in my regiment,the Royal True Blue, I want to have soldiers worthy of the name: acoward would be detestable to me; a liar could not be borne. I want mysoldiers to be straight, to be upright, to be honourable; I want themto walk in the middle of the road."
"Oh! oh!" suddenly came from Nan's lips.
The Captain gave her a long, penetrating glance. She coloured, anddropped her head.
"It can be done," he said, "but it is not specially easy; and I hopeit will be done. And now, surely we have had enough morality andenough solemn talk e
ven for the soldiers of the True Blue. I proposean entertainment this evening. I have consulted with your mother, andshe gives me leave to take you all to the theatre--yes, every singleone of you--to see a fine play about a soldier and how he acted underdifficulties."
The wild delight of the children at this last announcement can bebetter understood than explained. Captain Richmond knew what he wasabout; he knew that the eager young minds had gone through sufficientstrain. The girls rushed off to their rooms, and the Captain and MissRoy were alone.
"It is very good of you to join this," he said, turning to thegoverness.
"I like it," she replied. "Whether the children can stand thissomewhat severe discipline remains to be proved."
"I believe they can; they have all character," replied the Captain. "Ishall be deeply interested to know how this experiment progresses. Iwill give you your orderly-book to-morrow, and explain to you how themarks are to be put down. There is only one thing, however, MissRoy--there must be no favouritism; you must be as strict and as severewith your favourite, Kitty, as you are with Augusta, whom I do notthink you much care about."
"I do not," replied Miss Roy. "I do not understand her. She is popularwith most people; Mrs. Richmond is very much attached to her, and Kittyand Nora are fond of her."
"But Nan is not," said the Captain.
"No," replied Miss Roy; "Nan is afraid of her."
"I have seen that from the first," replied Captain Richmond; "and, totell you the truth, in planning my rules I thought a good deal both ofNancy and Augusta. This thing will try them both pretty stoutly; Ihave no doubt that in the end all will be well. And now, one more wordin your ear: I do not think I ever met a dearer little girl than NancyEsterleigh."
"She is a sweet child," replied Miss Roy; "and she was very, veryhappy with us before Augusta came."
The children, now all dressed for their evening's entertainment, cameinto the room. Captain Richmond had ordered a carriage; it was now atthe door, and the happy party, including Miss Roy, started off fortheir evening's pleasure.
In the play a soldier received the Victoria Cross. He was one who hadbeen snubbed and looked down upon, and always shoved into the cold: hehad been overlooked when others were promoted; when others wereordered to the front, he was expected to stay behind in England; thegirl he loved was given to a man over his head. Everything seemed tobe against him, but never once through all these trying circumstancesdid he lose his brightness, his freshness, his courage. He had a gayand cheerful word for each comrade and for each friend, and in the endhis chance came: he managed to get to the front--how, it does notmatter; he rescued another at the risk of his own life--how, does notmatter either; the thing that matters is that he received thatdecoration of all others the most thrilling, the most ennobling, theCross of the Order of Victoria.
Nan's little face turned white with excitement as she watched theprogress of the play; and at last, when the happy soldier wasdecorated for valour in the field, she burst into tears.
Captain Richmond took her hand, and bent and whispered to her:
"Odds against, but he won," was his remark. "Cheer up, Nancy; you toocan win."
"Even if the odds are against me?" she whispered back.
"Ah! of course. Look well to the front, soldier of the True Blue."