The Superior times. [volume] (Superior, Wis.) 1870-1912, 1871-08-12

young lady accompanied the elder
ly officer, and a young man accompa-
MED the young lady The youth must
have been very fond, for he was got up
as If for Ascot; and his shining hat,
delicate boots, lavender gloves, and
button-hole flower, looked very neon
gruous III that lonely spot. But the
peacock spreads its 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 fasclnate more than one at a
tune 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
Lonuon,' said he, and was very civil.
SO was Miss Duckline. 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 cordiality of the young
lady's manner toward myself
s. SO you have left Ireland, / unnec-
essarily observed.
Yes; papa got his step, and was put
III command of this depOt "
BY the by, colonel, said |, what
is 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
enlghten me.
"A depot? Well, you several
regiments have their depots at it. "
g see, " falsely asserted.
| We had a pleasant walk to some new
/ huts which were being set up; and on
! their return the colonel and his daugh-
/ ter both declared that / must come and
/ see Mrs. Ducklirg. SO | passed
through the barrack gates with the
rest, feeling taller when the sentry pre-
scented 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
! tiful Emma Neither the beautiful
! Emma nor her mamma could have been
good housewives. for the quaI ters Of
the chief were III 4 terrible mess, and
/ his little ones, who came swarmlng over
us, were contrast to the clean, tidy of
/ spring of the non commissioned officers
that / had noticed playing about. -
As Tor the youngest Duckling, tot
that pottered about, dragging fresh
| herring tied TO "a bit OF string after it,
as toy, he was SO sticky that | am
convinced fy 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 a sofa reading a novel. She
! had been a handsome woman III her
time, there could be no doubt of that,
and she had the best part OF beauty,
a kind, feminine, good-tempered eA-
preston left. She greeted me with
much cordiality, and evidently thought
a great deal of nay having paid her
daughters fare "Civility l have met
with myself, over and over again. "
said she, & but five pounds from ali
utter stranger-ueyer
/ liked her, she was so thoroughly
unaffected they were poor, but she
seemed to think that rather Joke than
otherwise
g viii not ask you to dinner, said
she: we dine early, because of the
children. If you are hungry at any
time about | O'Clock, and can eat cold
meat and rice-puddirg, we shall he glad
to see you; but do not expect to be
asked When the colonel cannot stand
our fare any longer, he goes 30 the
mess
! 1t Is very pleasant to be made much
/ OF, and the Ducl1liugs were SO agreea-
bic that | stopped at CobDleston's a
/ few days longer than was strictly nee
essary. | must confess that i took a
mIschIeyOus pleasure III exciting the
wrath of the ensign, and this appe red
to be shared by the fair Emma. At
least, she certainly acted in manner
which was likely TO pique him, paid
more attention to what | said when we
were together, and seemed to prefer
walking with me; but | cannot put
into words the many little perceptiblc,
though undetinable shades of conduct
which were calculated to depress him
aud encourage me | was glad not to
he forced upon the poor youth as
nominal say nominal, because,
doubtless, | really dined at the colon
ell S expense, as nominal guest
again. On the second day | was made
AN honorary member of the mess,-a
graceful act, for it is really diificult to
get II dinner at Cobbleton. At the emf
of the week, however, | was forced to
go, and when | announced the fact to
the Duckhngs, they were so dumb
fomdered that it was more than fiat
tCrIug-It was touching.
The time was Just after morning par
AIDE, and the family party was com
plete. The colonel was writing an
official letter to quash a court-martial,
telling the members that they must
find something to say more in accord
once with his own private opinion
Mrs. Duckling was reposingon the sofa,
rumpling the hair of one of her little
, ones, who sat on the floor beside her
Emma was winding wool and the en-
sign, who had not changed his uniform,
sat bolt upright IN front of her, hold
ing the slein. his legs under his chair,
his eyes looking unutterable things at
his Charmcr who was opposite, and too