"No," replied the lad. "It's like this. But perhaps I'd better show you the governor's letter."
Mr. Hughes read the proffered document.
"I see," he said gravely. "And you wish to avenge your brother?"
"Not avenge--it's duty," corrected Malcolm. "I can't exactly explain---- Now Peter's gone----"
"You have no positive information on that point, Malcolm."
"Wounded and missing--that means that there is no longer a member of our family in the firing-line. I'm seventeen, I'm a sergeant in the cadet corps, physically fit, and all that sort of thing. And I don't suppose they'll be too particular as to my age if I forget to say that I was born somewhere about the year 1900."
The Boss considered for some moments.
"I won't stand in your way, my boy," he said kindly. "After all, the actual work
