The Virginia enterprise. [volume] (Virginia, St. Louis County, Minn.) 1893-19??, 1900-09-07

bride.
appeared on the surface and very good
idea of what was beneath it.
That evening, | was sitting among a
lot OF other men who were swotting for
| the exam. l had Il sheet Of f0olscaD and
was busy making sketch Of the action
| in india ink.
Halo, young man. said the instruc-
shoulder unbeknown to me-, what have
You ought to know as we'll as If
not better than I. sergeant-instructor'
80 do know. But whore did Won cor
""Tha1's my business
ell, you must give it uD'
"'Oh, no, | shant.'
But YOU must
away w; from {; me-
,"'Well see what Lieut.. Rrown says
about that
IF Lieut.: Brown says I must give it
up. l will. But not unless
T1me is a'? SG;st the H,t to his qH2rerx
Cornwalls Light infantry, sir said the
Sergeant-!nstructOr, when we reached
Lieut.. Browns room. He has a sketch
Of the Maxim secret action, and refuses
to give it up
".H9w's this, sergt. Hardins?' asked
1.-The sketch is my own, sir. re-
fused to give it up to the sergcant-n-
structor. but said l would give 1t up at
once, IT YOU ordered me. But [ have
made one sketch, and, il you take that
away from me, have the action in my
mind; and can always make another
.rNho+'. o,,;+o +,,,o Va a,,,l, +l:>.
had better not be knocking about You
will destroy the sketch, Sergt. Hard
ing?'
''.Yes,' thought I, when have shown
it and won my bet
"'And how did you get hold of it,
Must 1 tell you, sir?
YES
~ took it down in my notebook while
the sergeant-instructor held the block be-
hind his back
The sergcant-instructo looked foolish,
and Lieut.. Brown drawled:
." L think, sergeant-instructor, you had
better have settled this little matter
both
1.-The sergeant-instructor was too upset
to want to see the sketch destroyed l
lost very little time in strOlling down to
that quiet spot where l might chance to
light Oh Mamsclle. Not that in view Of
"Hat IS 10 collle, WISH III amy way 10
say, or to hint, or to imply that she was
French. Far from it: | used the name
'Mamselle' as meaning young foreign
person, as a sailor uses 'Dutchman' to
mean Il foreign sailor, usually a Norwc-
gian or Swcde. She was there.
"'Good evening, Mamselle,' said /.
Had you any idea of going on the pier
quietly here?'
ITO stop here. I think; that. u.s. she
going to behave yourself properly
"'Well,' said l. as I've won my bet.
think [ may as well collect the stakes.
You,vewon? You know all about the
Maxim? asked she, SO excitedly that her
words tumbed enc over the other.
~ have told you So
"Nes; but you are sure:
."Quite. | have an lndia-ink sketch
of it on me-
Let me see it-lct me see it, she re-
peated. And her eyes cleaned.
"'Quite so,' said 1. seeing's believing:
butt should like to collect my stakes
''No longer coy, she flung her arms
around my neck and kissed me till l
had no breath with which to repay her
kisses. But she herself had breath
enough to gasp:
"'Give me the paper
Il put my hand in the breast pocket
of my serge, which I always used to
wear under my greatcoat. l began to
pull out the drawing Just then l heard
the drawing voice of Lieut.. Brown come
from the darkness-for we were in
very quiet and coy corner:
81 thought as much, Sergt. Harding
You are under arrest. Follow ME to
quarters
II turned toward the voice, and then
toward Mamselle-or toward where she
had been, for she was gone.
II rose and saluted.
"'May l ask, SIR
"'You're a lucky man that I had a
suspicion Of the facts. You're fool
enough to do lot of harm, but too big
a fool to know you're doing it. You
Cornish enough, do you believe one of
the prettest women in Folkestone and
one of the cleverest women in the world
is in love with you? You were just on
the point of giving a drawing of the
secret action to the smartest unofficial
military attache-and that is a spy-of
"Shall I name the country which he
named to me? Not I. No strained re-
lations, no wars and rumors. of wars,
shall come upon England through me-
I want no secret dossier-whatever that
may be. But so long as I live it shall
be secret for which War Office Mann
selle was collecting information.
''Her profession was bad: but her
kisses! -ah, they were good" -Cornhill
Magazine.
The Reason for His ''Aloofness.''