The times., 1890-08-08


and unaffected in her manner, so bright
and winning. with such an evident lik-
ing for his society, that Mr. Noel had
come away fiattering himself that he
had made in this quarter most ia
vorable impression. He had thought of
her very much as he went home from the
party-of her interested face, us he talked
or danced with her; and she danced de-
lightfully, and was SO good as to say that
his step perfectly suited hers. He re-
membered now, too, her remark that it
was so delightful to dance with army Of
ficers and graduates of the Point they
all seemed to feel SO thoroughly at home
on the floor.
Noel was not graduate of the Point
by any means; but he saw no reason for
disenchanting her on that score. Hc
was quite as good as any of the West
Pointers, in his own opinion, and in So
ciety was very much more at home than
many of their number. As dancer, he
was looked upon in his regiment and
throughout the cavalry as one of the
most accomplished in the whole service.
And all this interest and all this cordiali-
ty he had accepted without hesitation as
a tribute to his own superior qualifica-
tions and attractiveness. 1t was there
fore with feeling akin to pique that he
heard of this possible engagement exist
ing between her and Capt. Lane.
In all the Eleventh cavalry there was
no man whom Gordon Noel feared and
possibly hated more than he did Capt.
Lane. This arose from the fact that
Lane as adjutant of the regiment had
seen all the communications that passed
from time to time relative to Noels alb
sence from his command when his SER
| vices were most needed and when any
man of spirit would have taken every
possible precaution to be with it. He
knew how silent Lane had always been,
and how thorough "a custodian of regi-
mental secrets be was considered. But
all the same NSmere fact that Lane
knew all these circumstances so much
| to his disadvantage, and had seen all his
lame and impotent excuses, had made
him fear him us possible enemy and
hate him simply because he stood in awe
of him.
| No one, to watch Noel in society or
in the presence of his brother officers,
would suppose for moment that he
looked upon Lane with other than feel
ings of the warmest regard and COM
radeship. 1t was only in his secret
thoughts, which he admitted to no soul
on earth, that Noel realized what his
real feelings were towards man who
had never done him wrong, but who
had treated him on all occasions, public
and private, with courtesy and consid-
Grafton
For some reason or other the lieuten-
ant felt restless and dissatisfied this
morning. The atmosphere Of the Office
was decidedly uncongenial. He was a
man who rarely read anything, and to
whom letter writing was bore. To be
sure, he had little of it to do, for no man
in the regiment had expressed desire
| to hear from him. 1t was hot, sultry
day; the stylish white flannel suit in
which he had arrayed his handsome self
was wasting its elegance on the desert
air of bare and empty room, instead
| OF being seen in the boudoirs of beauty
| or the billiard rooms at the club. Busi-
ness was slack; no recruits were COM
ing in, and Mr.. Noel could stand it no
longer. A ring from his bell summoned
the sergeant to the room.
"There doesn't seem to be any likeli-
hood of recruits coming in such day as
this, sergeant" said Mr.. Noel. "Im GO
ing up to the club for while; if any
body should come in, send one of the
.@z
And with that he took his straw hat and
light cane and strolled leisurely up the
street. His was a figure that many a
man-and more womep-would turn to
look at more than once. Tall, slim, ele-
CANT in build, always dressed in excel
lent taste, Gordon Noel in any commun-
ity would have been pronounced o re-
markably presentable man. His face, as
has been said, was very fine; his eyes
dark and handsome, shaded by deep,
thick lashes; his hair dark and waving;
his mustache, dark and dropping, serv-
ed only to enhance the brilliancy of the
even white teeth that flashed underneath
it in his frequent smiles and joyous
laughter. One would say, in. looking at
Noel, that he was man of singularly
sunny dispositions and so he was, and so
they found him at the club; and so the
loungers there hailed him with jovial
shouts as he entered; for, though only a
fortnight had elapsed since his arrival,
and four days of that time he had been
absent, giving his testimony before the
court martial in New York harbor, he
had nevertheless won his way into the
hearts of all the young fellows around
the club, and no more popular man than
Gordon Noel had ever come within the
doors Of 1.-THE Queen City"
"What are you going to have, old
manY' was the first question asked, and
Noel laughingly ordered sherry cob
bier, saying the day was far too hot for
anything stronger.
"Who's that l just saw going into the
billiard room?" he asked.\
"That? That's Regy Vincent. Haven't
you met him yet?'
"Regy Vincent" said Noel sis he
the brother of the Miss Vincent whom /
met at the party last night"
"The very same" was the reply.
| 4.