Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1888-01-05

was obliged to postpone her curiosity until
after dinner.
Uncle VIII was not a man of many
words, at the best of times, and at meals
he was more than usually silent. there was
nothing, therefore, in his taciturnity to-
day to indicate the state of his mind about
the subject SO momentous to the young
people.
That he had, perhaps, dismissed it as not
worth thinking about, did not occur to
either of them.
Louis did not seem very lively, and Va
lerie, whose yivacity was not easily crush
ed, took up the parable.
"There'Il be grand doings at Downing
ton, Louis" she said.
evil there?" he asked, rousing himself.
'sWhy?"
Didn't you know" cried the girl, OPP
ening her great. liquid, gray eyes wide,
shat the til and three companions OF the
til regiment are quartered there? The
til is q crack regiment, you know, and
there will be balls, and fun generally for
certain
Valerie, a soldiers daughter, took keen
| interest in military matters, and was quite
an authority on all things pertaining to the
army.
bennington, small county town few
miles from the hamlet of Wexford, had re-
Gently been erected into a military centre;
and Valerie knew, before anybody else In
| Wexford, what regiments, or parts Of regi-
ments, had been quartered in the town.
81 didn't know it, was Louis reply to
| the girl; land as for the fun-we shan't be
| in it, so it doesn't affect US one way or the
| other"
81 wish we could be!' observed Valerie,
ruefully 81 should love to go to ball
and a military ball, too! 1t would be SO
brilliant-such a feast of colorn'
Her cheek flushed, her eyes gloWed.
| Louis bit his lip as he looked at the love
| 1y face opposite to him. He had no desire
to see her the centre of an admiring tErong
Of dashing military men.
| precious puppies, those officers gener-
ally arer' he said, drily, forgetting Major
| Herbert for the moment.
| Valerie flushed high.
care they?" she exclaimed, holly. "They
are as good as other men, and much better
than some. The Duke of Wellington pre-
ferred the puppies as you call them; and
| in the Crimea-"
"Hold hardp' interrupted Louis, laugh
ing, but somewhat dismayed, too, by this
outburst, don't give me such a fusillade
i meant no dramatically forgot-Imust
be careful what [ say about soldiers,
know"
eyes, you mustE' said Valerie, Modified,
| but still a little resentful.
| "Wnat is the matter?" asked uncle Will
for the first time percei7ing that some thing
was going on.
''Nothing!" said Valerie, generously.
"We were only talking about the garrison
at bennington"
'Has the garrison arrived?"
eyes; the day before yesterday. And ]
| wish we knew someone at bennington.
want to go to dance"
Every natural at your age" said uncle
| Will, looking at the animated face with a
growing impression that Valerie qDdS sin
guIarly beautiful, E'but you are too young
for such things yet"
Amy Linwood went to her first ball
when she was seventeen"
"Amy Linwood was brought up in Lon
don," said Mr. Herbert, oracularIy, but il
logically; then he added, hastily:
''Besides. my dear, you would have to 90
to bennington in q carriage, and we could
not afford that!''
''No!'' said Valerie, half signing, "and
we don't know anybody"
So the matter was settled; but none the
less did Valerie long to go to ball-espec-
tally military ball!