They are
mostly ancestors, but one or two are by master hands, and two or three
royal personages are amongst them."
The boys listened eagerly whilst their host pointed out one and another,
with now and then an anecdote connected with them.
"Look," said Roy, delightedly, "there's a fine soldier. He is quite
young, and yet what a lot of medals! and oh, General Newton, isn't that
the Victoria Cross on his coat?"
"Yes, my boy, he served his country well for such a youngster, he
fought in eight battles, and came home without a scratch, though he had
many hair-breadth escapes. In one battle he had two horses shot under
him, and he saved the colors on foot, though he was leading a cavalry
charge."
"He was a regular hero!" murmured the admiring boys.
"I don't think he was," said the general, drily. "He had plenty of dash
and go, but no moral courage. He came home after the wars were over, and
broke his mother's heart by becoming a drunkard and a gambler; and he
died an early death from drink and dissipation."
Roy looked very puzzled.
"I thought a brave man must be a good one, and brave and good to the end
of his life."
"A man can face the cannon's mouth better than a friend's ridicule,"
said General Newton; "the young soldier we were hearing about before
dinner had a nobler courage than this poor fellow here.
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