Kitty's Conquest

id motion a keen delight. As we neared the spot, the mellow notes of the trumpet came floating on the breeze, and as we rounded a bend in the road, we came in sight of the

at it all with professional calm; occasionally giving some brief and altogether too technical explanation of evolutions that were beyond my comprehension. But the one thing which struck me most forcibly was that, though frequently trotting or galloping close to where we sat in the buggy, Mr. Frank Amory never took the faintest n

I, "considering the youngster wa

f military propriety to hold any kind of communication

oung ladies was Miss Carrington. To my undisciplined faculties that sort of thing was incomprehensible. I looked on at the drill for a while, wondering how in the world those fellows could manage to keep their seats in the saddle without grabbing the pommel, when Harrod remarked that he believed he would go on into the village to attend to some business, and leave me at Amory's tent until he returne

nd some stray papers, an ungainly inkstand, and one or two scattered pens and holders. A looking-glass about the size of one's face was swung on the front pole. A rude washstand was placed near the foot of the bed. A swinging pole, hung under the ridge-pole of the tent, constituted the wardrobe or clothes-closet of the occupant, and from this several garments were pendent. There was no tent floor; the bare ground was the carpet; and but for one little table the abode would have been rude in the extreme as the habitation of a civilized being. The

arden (though I claim to have been but a boy then); when Mario and Grisi were teaching us Knickerbockers the beauties of Italian opera; when Count D'Orsay was the marvel of metropolitan society; when daguerreotypes were first introduced along Broadway. All these I thought of as I looked into this placid face, so refined in its every line; marking, too, that at the throat was clasped a portrait in plain gold frame, the inevitable indication that th

acted my attention. The writing was strangely familiar. There were four letters,-two "official," long and heavy; two personal, and evidently of feminine authorship. It was my business to lay them on the table. I did nothing of the kind. Holding the package in both hands, I sat stupidly staring at the topmost letter,-a tiny, dainty affair,-and striving to come back from dream-land. Where had I seen that superscription before? There stood the address, "Lieut. Frank Amory, -th U.S. Cavalry, Sandbrook Station, Memphis and Charleston R. R., Alabama," every letter as perfectly traced as though by the hand of an engraver; every i dotted, every t crossed, every capital having its due proportion, every letter wellnigh perfect. The sup

cture in the velvet frame, Mars came springily forward, his sabre and spurs clinking with every stride. He pulled off his gauntlet, and held out his hand with a cheery and cordial "So glad

. It only came a few days ago, and

all glowing as he came from his rapid drill, and with the

as though she were here now. That Ku-Klux business upset her completely, and

ce attracted me at once, and it was easy to see the famil

s told you. He was killed at Fredericksburg, at the head of his brigade; and my uncle, mother's younger brother, died of wounds received in

the appropriate thing to say ju

other were both taken from her at one fell swoop, it made it hard to let me take up fat

" I asked, by way of lightening up the

adet. It is a wonder I wasn't an out-and-out 'reb' too. All mother's people were, and they never have been reconciled to her for sticking to father and his side of the question. Poor little mothe

bsence. He moved negligently towards the desk, raised the handkerchief with weary indifference, and glanced at the packet underneath. Instantly his whole manner changed; the color sprang to his face; his eyes flamed, and a nervous thrill seemed to shoot through his frame. Paying no attention to the others, he had seized the dainty mi

out with a quick, nervous step, and a face that had grown wh

ers were important, and-and rather a surprise, one of them. It is

fered refreshment. It seemed to be a relief to Mars. He bustled about, getting sugar and glasses and

a moment the juice of the rye and other less harmf

k I took the night on the train after our tussle with Smith is the only

enewed allusion to the mother who filled so big a place in the boy's heart, Mr. Brandon deposited his glass on the table and held out his hand; took that of the surpris

rleans. I've just received the papers, and it looks as th

" I asked, with

. Two legislatures, you know, and a double-he

on meetings and organizing for defence against usurping State government; two riots on Canal Street, and a member of one legislature shot down by the sergeant-at-arms of the other; a great mob organizing to attack the governo

inner with us. Mr. Brandon and I must go back, for there a

nton's absence he felt that he ought to

n we drove up. Harrod shook his head in respo

rovoking gravity and deliberation, as he felt in every pocket of his garments in apparently vain search, wh

d and I went in to talk over the startling tidings from New Orleans. The next moment we heard Pauline's rapid step in the hal

the swish of Kitty's skirts was heard. Harrod stepped out and spoke some words to her in a low t

ut sprang up with tears in her eyes and merely said she mus

ntime had taken a horse and ridden off to Sandbrook, where he wanted to reach the telegraph-office. It was late in the evening when he retur

ajor tell you in hi

e inquired, with q

de no reply. Quickly he stepped forward and threw

r's wife, Pauline. Yo

at she had risen and was eagerly gazing at them,

all, colonel

from the West by the evening train and took command at the station. Neither of them had time to come out here

Vinton?" Paulin

re thirty minutes. Amory had the troop, horses and

omething consolatory, I nearly collided with Miss Kitty at the parlor-door. She recoiled a pace; then with her bonny head bowed in her hand