Page:Where the Dead Men Lie.djvu/197

 future. Writing to his friend Mr. Hughan, Barcroft, then thirteen years old, said: ‘Mamma has been taken away, leaving a little baby boy behind—what an exchange!’

His father at this time was prospering in business, and Barcroft grew up a sturdy lad, well cared for. At an early age he could swim and handle a boat. In cricket and football he took less interest; but he