, 1877-07-13

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she saw that it was Capt. Eliesmere. lie
lifted his hat and bowed with the old
courtesy.
madam" =" he said, in low, faint tones,
81 am Capt. GOetfrey EllesmeIe. | have
been prisoner, and have escaped. l am
at your mercy now, for am wounded to
the DEATH" Then he fell fainting on the
floor, and Nancy ran to her mother to
come and help him. For he is dying
and oh, mother, his name is Godfrey y
she sobbed.
So these good women took him in and
nursed him for months (fOr, of course, he
didn't die, obtaining parole for him,
and keeping him in the pleasant old farm
house till his wound was quite we'll, and
his heart forever gone out of his British
bosom into the hands of the little rebel
| Nancy Robertson. How could it be 9TH
erwise9 Nancy was lovely young girl
of nineteen now, fair and fresh as the
dawn. The hands that had broken the
| punch bowl were tender and skilful in
the binding of wounds and bathing of
aching heads, and the making of delicate
drinks and viands. Before he could leave
his bed, Capt. Ellesmere loved his kind,
| pitying little nurse.
Then, afterward, there were the long
weeks Of convalescence, when he lay on
the great settle with pillows round him,
watching Nancy at her spinning, or her
sewing, or her bread making. AS he grew
stronger, there were golden hours with
her in the orchard, he lying on the grass
reading to her as she sewed, or (perhaps ,
not reading, but just idly watching her
changing face, with its smiles and fitting
blushes and dark lashes dropping quietly
over the hazel eye.
Then there were short walks, which
grew longer and longer, till one day as
they sat by clear little spring in the
woods, hardly a mile from the house,
Geofrey suddenly said:
Nancy, l am so strong and we'll now,
that it is my duty to get an exchange, if
can, and go back to the army"
Nancy did not say word. She looked
at him one moment, with eyes out of
which the sparkle and smile had died ab-
ruptly, then she turned away her head,
and he could just see one cheek, but that
was white as death, aud the black lashes
dropped heavily upon it.
81 shall be very sorry to 60" he went
on, watching her keenly rs he spoke,
'and hope you will be sorry, too. Will
you2"
Still, with her head turned away, and
her little fingers trembling, plucking at the
ferns that grew near her, Nancy answered
in a very low tone,
at is hard to lose a friend-and it is
lonely here, you knew" Then, as if try
ing to speak lightly, "But for you-why,
there will be change and stir, and-you
will soon get over being sorry to leave US,
and forget-us."
''That will not" vowed Capt. Geof-
frey. "If went to the ends of the earth,
and stayed away a thousand years,
would never forget you, because love
you, my dearest, with all my heart Look
at me, Naucyl want to see if you love
mep'
He was kneeling beside her on the
grass, and taking both her cold, tremb-
ling little hands in one of his, with the
other he turned her face gently toward
him, and gazed into the clear depths of
her eyes. Yes, there were tears there
She did love him, and her white cheek
turned sweetest, glowing crimson as he
took her in his arms and kissed her, and
swore that as soon as the war was over,
he would come back and marry her, and
take her home to England.
"Will you go with me, sweetheart" he
4 asked, and bent his fair head to hear her
soft-whispered "yes."
1t is singular how little century has
changed us in some things. declare
that people might behave in just that
way nowadays, and not be thought at
all old-fashioned in their notions. So
little Nancy Robertson, whose father was
away fighting in the Continental army,
had promised to marry a British officer;
and one bright morning she took tear
full leave of him, all alone, in the old par
lor, which, with its quaint secretary, In
dian screen, and heart-shaped chairs, was
thereafter dearer to her than ever.
Those were dreary months that fol-
lowed the departure of Capt. Ellesmere
from the Robertson farm, and a soreB
torn and aching heart poor Nancy carried
in her breast, while she knew that her
father and her lover were fighting against
each other, and she never heard word
from Geoffrey. At last came news from
him, and, strangest of all, her father
brought it! Col. Robertson came home
from Yorktown, where he had been with
the army beseiging CORVALLIS.
CORVALLIS had surrendered, and with
him a much more important character in
Nancy's eyes, Capt. Geoffrey Ellesmere!
Col. Robertson had seen him there. Nay,
Capt. Ellesmere had come to see him,
and, like brave gentleman, had told him
of his love for Nancy, and asked his con-
sent to their marriage when the war
should be ended.
"He is brave lad, and a handsome