The Press., 1895-09-12

energy or play, had S6rOll0d out upon the jetty to get a closer view of the Firefiy and, as it proved, of some of her officers also, who were then being put ashore by their stalwart bluejackets. Colonel Sandilands, the administrater, was among the number, bent upon ex- tending invitations to dinner to as many as were disposed to avail themselves of his hospitality. The English, as a rule, are not demonstrative or specially patri- otic upon the surface, but as a test of our real nature there can be nothing much more conclusive than the delight with which we greet a fellow country man after some years of association with foreigners and alens-among the latter class, be it understood, creoles of the West Indies should be distinctly in cluded. t.'t
 ''How are you,. Zane, old fellow? You know my wife. Come along-we'l IL drive you up, or will you, go to the club first and the ladies can send the buggy back for us? Our girls are on the tennis ground, but the game must be over by this time. Shall we look in for min ute?''
 They did look in there, and excepting the case of the susceptible Montague and that other instance of love at first sight so graphically described by the sham shepherd boy in the forest of Ar den, romance and history alike fail to exhibit anything more sudden than Cap tain Fane's s2rrender.
 And in truth the vision that met his gaze was one that might have unsettled St. Kevin or Seramus. Delicate as the evening blossom of the frangipani tree beneath which she stood, her dark, silky hair blown into tiny tendrils upon her lovely forehead, with joyous light in her glorious brown eyes and her supple form displayed to the greatest advan- tage, both from an artistic and hygienic point of view, she dexterorIsly struck her tennis ball with her racket, battle door fashion, in spontaneously extem- porized match between herself and bright faced lad, whose skill appeared sufficiently great to warrant his having challenged the belle of Princetown to compete with him.
 All unconscious as they were of the approach of strangers, the players might have continued their performance until breathlessness or fatigue rendered one or other of them incapable of further effort had not Colonel Sandilands inter- rupted them with 8 complimentary ejaculation of "Bravo, bravoPss
 Then a blush deep as the oleander flower at her waist belt overspread the girls fair face for a moment, as, letting ho-. o% hn hon al So the ground amid the disappointed ex- plantations of the bystanders, some of whom were, however, too much inter ssted ill the arrival of the sailors to care very much, while Freddy Sandilands, turning responsibility to the adminis- trator, cried:
 "Oh, daddy, what 8 beastly shame to interrupt like thatl You don't know what odds there were on that match, and Miss Crofton and had kept up to 64, and we should have been certain to reach the 100 if you hadn't hallooed put. ''
 fl believe I'm very much obliged to Colonel Sandilands,' said the girl con- fdentially to one of her companions as she smiled a grateful acknowledgement of the palm leaf fan somebody handed her. Ut is much harder work than playing with shuttlecocks and should have been obliged to give in before long,"
 Meanwhile Captain Fame was greet ing those of the house of Sandilands with whom he was already acquainted, and being introduced and in turn pre- senting his brother officers who had come ashore with him to the younger members of the family and the tennis party generally. At last the moment he was hoping for arrived, and some one