Page:Ballantyne--The Battery and the Boiler.djvu/440

 in despair, and parted from his companions, who could not resist the genial hospitality of their new friends in the cottage on the west of Mull.

Ten days later Sam got a letter from Robin, telling him that he had received a cable-telegram from India, from their friend Redpath, offering him a good situation there, and that, having reached the lowest depths of despair, he had resolved to accept it, and was sorry he should not have an opportunity of saying good-bye, as he was urged to start without a day's delay.

Sam was staying with his friends at the Oban Hotel at the time, having at last managed to tear himself away from the cottage in Mull.

He instantly ran out and telegraphed—

"Don't accept on any account."

Then he sought Mrs. Langley, and opened Robin's case to her. Mrs. Langley listened with a smile of intelligence, and soon after went to her daughter's room, the window of which commanded a splendid view of the western sea.

"Letta, dear, are you moralising or meditating?"

"Both, mamma."

"Well, I will try to help you," said Mrs. Langley, seating herself by the window. "By the way, did you hear that Mr. Wright has been offered a lucrative appointment in the Telegraph Department of India, and is going off at once;—has not time