“Ah, well, then you mustn’t be coming down too hard upon him for a horse. You’ve run up a pretty good bill for him already over your new outfit.”
“Oh, no,” said Dick quickly; “my Aunt Kate put five hundred pounds for me to draw upon to pay for my outfit.”
“What!” cried Wyatt, “you’ve an Aunt Kate with plenty of money who has done that?”
“Give me her address, my dear boy; she must be everything that’s good.”
“She is,” said Dick warmly. “But why do you want her address?”
“To write and propose for her at once, sir,” said Wyatt, drawing himself up; “such a good woman ought not to remain single. She is single, of course?”
“That’s right. I don’t suppose I shall get back to England for a dozen years, but I shall still be young. Let’s see; twenty-eight and twelve make forty, and that isn’t old, is it?”
“You don’t think she’d mind waiting, do you, till then?”
“I can’t say,” said Dick merrily. “But, let’s see; sixty and twelve are seventy-two—would you mind waiting?”
“Ahem!” said Wyatt, clearing his throat; “five hundred pounds for you to draw upon. You can easily afford a good horse out of that.”
“Of course; it was meant for the purpose.”
“Then let’s go and see Hulton at once, and hear what he says.”
The uniform was quickly put away, Dick’s native servant being summoned; and then the two officers crossed the parade-ground to Captain Hulton’s quarters, where that quiet, thoughtful-looking personage gave Dick a friendly nod, and proceeded to chat over the subject in a very decisive manner after Wyatt had opened it and had not omitted to allude to Aunt Kate’s money.
“What do you say about Morrison’s Arab?” he said after a while.
“Decidedly no!—There is no hurry, Darrell, and you need not be too eager about spending your money. Let it rest till a good, quiet, fast mount turns up—one that would suit you. Poor Morrison’s Arab is only fit for a rough-rider. We’ll find you something for the present—something that will not want much riding.”
“Very well, sir,” said Dick quietly; “you know best.”
“Well, I think so, Darrell,” said Captain Hulton, smiling. “When you have been out here ten years with the troop you will have had my experience. You do ride a little?”
“But not our way, of course. Done a little hunting at home, I suppose?”