Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1871-08-09

NObhCiAiiS NF1db Gne SSnbEg, WIZ HtoO
inside, looking prickly, would do t
me II l attempted to enter, the soldie
thus contemplated became suddenl
rigid, his murderous-looking Weapo
flew up to his shoulder, and he made
sort OF military point Then, in a sud
! dem snatchy, galvanized way, he CAV
his gun slap, and held it in front 0
him. and this, tall, elderly. man il
spurs, striped trousers, and frock- Goa
/ festOoned with broad shoe strings
/ seemed to take as q personal compli
nent, for he touched his forage-cap, al
absurd little ornament, which did no
quite cover the bald patch on the top
A young lady accompanied the elder
ly officer, and q young man aocompa
MED the young lady. The youth must
have been very fond, for he was got uL
as il for Ascot; and his shining hat
delicate boots, lavender gloves, ant
button-hole flower looked very incon-
9ruous in that lonely spot But the
peacock spreads it's dazzling tail just as
readily in the depths of the lonely for
est as on the lordly terrace; and he is
right. [ do not suppose that an Adonis
wants to fascinate more than one at q
time with his apparel; and If that one
is present, what does the absence of the
twenty thousand others matter?
When the trio emerged from the bar
rack square the young lady stopped
short, looked hard at ME, bowed, and
then spoke eagerly to the old gentle
man in uniform, who at once advanced
toward me and held out his hand.
My daughter tells me that you are
Mr. Tweedle, who SO kindly came to
her assistance when she was lost IN
London" said he, and was very civil.
SO was Miss Duckling. The young
fellow to whom [ was introduced tried
to follow suit, but failed. 1t was easy
to see that he hated me. He was but
an ingenious ensign, and had not yet
learned how to conceal his feelings
The cause of his enmity, [ need hardly
say, was the Gordiality Of the young
lady's manner toward myself
. SO you have left Ireland" I unnec-
essarily observed.
eyes; papa got his step, and was put
III command of this depot"
g By the by, colonel, said [, " what
is a depot? Stores, shades, and depots
have been mysteries to me from my
youth The solidity of my ignorance
excited a smile upon the face of the
ensign, but the old soldier sought to
enEghten me.
"A depot? Well, you know-several
regiments have their depots at it. "
81 see, . falsely asserted.
We had pleasant walk to some new
huts which were being set up and on
their return the colonel aud his daugh-
ter both declared that must come and
see MRS Duckiirg. SO [ passed
through the barracB gates with the
rest, feeling taller when the sentry pre-
sented arms The colonel took the
ensign's arm, and spoke to him aside ;
the poor youth nodded, and presently
afterward asked me to dine at the mess
that evening. / am sure. from the
forced character of his smile, that he
felt feeding me to be pushing Christian
ity too far.
Then he had to bow himself off, leav-
ing me to enter the home OF the beau
tif1l Emma Neither the beautiful
Emma nor her mamma could have been
good housewives, for the quarters of
the chief were in terrible mess, and
his little ones, who came Swarming over
rs, were a contrast to the clean, tidy of
spring Of the non commissioned officers
That [ had noticed playing about. =
As for the youngest Ducl1ling, a tot
that pottered about, dragging fresh
herring tied TO bit of string after it.,
as a toy, he was so sticky that | am
convinced fly alighting on him would
have been limbed.
The furniture was scanty and com
mon, and no attempt had been to set
things off We found Mrs. Duckling
lying on sofa reading a novel She
h ad been a handsome woman in her
time, there could be no doubt of that,
and she had the best part of beauty,
a kind, feminine, good-tempered ex-
preston left She greeted me with
much cordlality, and evidently thought
a great deal of my having paid her
daughters fare. 'FCivility [ have met
with myself, over and over again, y
said she, ''but five pounds from an
utter stranger-never
[ liked her, she was so thoroughly
unaffected they We're poor, but she
seemed to think that rather joke than
otherwise.
q will not ask you to dinner, said
she; we dine early, because of the
children. II you are hungry at any
time about [ O'Clock, and can eat cold
meat and rice-puddirg, we shall be glad
To see you} but do not expect to be
asked. When the colonel cannot stand
our fare, longer; he goes to the mess. y
1t is very pleasant to be made much
of, and the Ducklings were SO agreea
bic that 1 stopped at Cobbleston's a
few days longer than was strictly nee
essary. [ must confess that | took q
mischievous pleasure i'll exciting the
wrath of the ensign, and this appe red
to be shared by the fair Emma. AT
least, she certainly acted III a manner
which was likely to pique him, paid
more attention to what [ said when we
we're together, and seemed to prefer
walking with me but [ cannot put
into words the many little perceptible,
though undefinable shades OF conduct
which were calculated to depress him
and encourage me. ] was glad not tC
be forced upon the poor youth as a
nominal say nominal, because,
doubtless, [ really dined at the colon.
els expense,-as nominal guest
again On the second day [ was made
an honorary member of the mess.
graceful act, for it is really difficult t1
get dinner at CobbletOn. At the END
of the week, however, [ was forced tc
90, and when I announced the fact tc
the Ducklings, they were SO dumt
foundered that it was more than Hat
tering-it was touching.
The time was just after morning par
ade, and the family party was com
plete. The colonel was writing al
official letter to qua5h a court-martlal,
telling the members that they must
find something to say more IN accord
once with his own private opinion
Mrs. Duclling was reposing on the sofa
rympling the hair OF one OF her little
ones, who sat on the floor beside her
Emma was winding wool; and the ell
sign, who had not changed his uniform
sat bolt upright in front of her, hold
ing the skein, his legs under his chair
his eyes looking unutterable things a
his charmer who was opposite, and to-
close II ap bopI 4,,4oboI hic OCCASION