'looking here,' and poring over the lines beside a bloomy cheek. He was
petulantly whipped on the arm with her glove, and pouted at. And it was
then--and then only or chiefly through Nataly's recent allusion--that the
man of honour had his quakings in view of the quagmire, where he was
planted on an exceedingly narrow causeway, not of the firmest. For she
was a pretty little woman, one of the prize gifts of the present
education of women to the men who are for having them quiescent domestic
patterns; and her artificial ingenuousness or candid frivolities came to
her by nature to kindle the nature of the gentleman on the other bank of
the stream, and witch him to the plunge, so greatly mutually regretted
after taken: an old duet to the moon.

Dartrey escaped to the Club, where he had a friend. The friend was
Colonel Sudley, one of the modern studious officers, not in good esteem
with the authorities. He had not forgiven Dartrey for the intemperateness
which cut off a brilliant soldier from the service. He was reduced to
acknowledge, however, that there was a sparkling defence for him to reply
with, in the shape of a fortune gained and where we have a Society
forcing us to live up to an expensive level, very trying to a soldier's
income, a fortune gained will offer excuses for misconduct short of
disloyal or illegal. They talked of the state of the Army: we are moving.
True, and at the last Review, the 'march past' was performed before a
mounted generalissimo profoundly asleep, head on breast. Our English
military 'moving' may now be likened to Somnolency on Horseback. 'Oh,
come, no rancour,' said the colonel; 'you know he's a kind old boy at
heart; nowhere a more affectionate man alive!'

'So the sycophants are sure of posts!'

'Come, I say! He's devoted to the Service.'

'Invalid him, and he shall have a good epitaph.'

'He's not so responsible as the taxpayer.'

'There you touch home. Mother Goose can't imagine the need for defence
until a hand's at her feathers.'

'What about her shrieks now and then?'

'Indigestion of a surfeit?'

They were in a laughing wrangle when two acquaintances of the colonel's
came near. One of them recognized Dartrey. He changed a prickly subject
to one that is generally as acceptable to the servants of Mars. His
companion said: 'Who is the girl out with Judith Marsett?' He flavoured
eulogies of the girl's good looks in easy garrison English. She was
praised for sitting her horse