The Van Buren press., 1869-06-22

to dress your halr dltlerently sne IS very
clever; or to put another wreath on your
head ?"
"No, no, thank you," said l.: and
bitterly did | inward!y abuse my luck,
but l almost gasped: "If yeu had a
spare room where could wash my hands
and just put my hair straight for myself,
l should be very much obliged
was shown into a room, and sat
down, the vely picture, am sure, Of de-
spaii. Itnow began to fash across me,
too, that what was, to say the least, not
over creditable joke among few larkt
brother officers. would be very dishonor-
able if practiced on society at large that
it would be very wrong ofme to go to a
ball at Sir Georges disguised as a young
lady; that might get into some awk-
ward scene; that | might be the means
Of unintcntionally cassIng pain and
shame to some ladies. . dearv l was
doubling whether | should be taken sud
dcnly ill and have myself conveyed
home or whether should send for Mrs.
Dundee, and make 4 clean breast Of it
little thinking that all the time the wretch
knew my fix. But then my friends would
lose fifteen thousand pounds. o horri
bic just at that moment my hand un
luckily touched the pocket in which was
my flask; to pull it out and drain it was
only the work Of moment or two. My
couraged returned at once; my spirits
rose only too rapidly; would so
through with it-I would win. My scru-
pies vanished in thin air-1 forgot them.
| was not drunk but terribly excited.
Soon the lady's maid entered with hot
water, brushes, etc, / remembsg. l felt
very much inclined to chuck h0under
chin, and ask her for TO get me some
more brandy on the sly. The mere
thought, however, stcadied me at once,
as it struck me how nearly had made
mess of the whole matter. l sat down
before the glass, touched up my hair,
somewhat composed my flushed face,
shook out my skirts, rinsed my mouth
with eau dc cologne to remove the smell
Of brandy. and put scent on new lace
handkerchief had borrowed from Mrs.
Dundee. / had often acted a lady's part
in private theatricals, and was tolerably
au fait in my work. When ! descended
TO the drawingroom Mrs. Dundee looked
me over. Oh, how l shuddered when
she touched one Of my curls and wished
to put it quite straight. knowing rs she
did my assumed character, she must been
nightly amused at the way in which
said "Oh please don't; | have all fin
ishing touches of every kind. !"
In due course Of time, the four horse
bus came round and we drove to Sir
George Clonmells. My spirits had again
sunk to zero feared should not be
able 10 keep up my character, and in
stinctively felt that Was doing wrong.
Oh those horrible bets There were scvc-
raj Of the ll0 in the room. l danced with
two. Any ono who had overheard US
would have been amazed at the converse
ton between my partner who was one in
the secret rnd myself.
Fred, my boy, when will supper
come? DO take me to some room where
| can get some bitter beer or something
to drink
"Can't do it, old fellow, at any price !;
you would be found out, and | should
lose my money; you must get on as best
you can without drink.
But am dying with thirst; | can't
hold out till support time, and my pluck
is oozing out at my fingers ends, for |
feel am in mess, and am sure shall
put my foot into into, and be discovered,
if do not get some stimulant to keep
me up
Cant help it, my boy; you must do
your best. l tell you wnat yon had bet
ter do--smuggle your flask out Of your
pocket, and give it to me will fill it
W tn cherry and then, while you and !
take the one turn around together on the
terrace which propricty allows, you must
contrivc to drink it.
Soon supper was announced, and felt
better. If however, my partner, who was
Fred, had not been in the secret, he
w0ull have been astonished to see how
very much | ate, and how very many
glasses drank on the sly when thought
nobody was noticing. Fred watched on
ono side of the table, and the other,
When he thought no one was looking.he
would give me Il kick; and il was salts
fed that ] was not watched on my side,
down went the champagne in the twink
ling Of an eye.
At length the company began to dis
persc, and rather quickly, too, for the
rain was pouring, and an awful thunder.
storm evidently coming on. | heard
more than one anxious parent hasten
their charge away" Come, come, my
dear; you must come now, or, as papa
SAYS we shall be obliged to stop here all
night"
The words did not strike me at the
moment, bnt did they not afterwards
Soon the storm broke lit was some
thing rrightful; and after the severity Oh
the thrnder and lightning had spent it.
self the rain came down in torrents, and
gave every sign of continuing to pour in
that way for some hours. Sir George
an Lady Clonwel would not hear Of the
few guests who remained going home.
Such weather. no one ever saw any
thing like 1.-THE river was swollen, the
ford impossible. The house was very
large the young ladies could sleep two
in bed" 90 goodness, how my heart
sank "thc bachelors must rough it at
once the cushions in the smoking room
and the billiard room were very soft
A few desperate, and, as thought,
happy people would 90 Mrs Dundee east.
lv rnrsuoded bor husband To stOp What