as he, for the
smiles with which they greeted her were but wintry reflections of those
that beamed upon her radiant face. Prime, paterfamilias, bent cordially
forward in welcome, but her quick eyes had recognized the fourth occupant
by this time, and there was a little less of assurance in her manner from
that instant. "How _per_fectly delicious!" she cried. "I feared from what
you said yesterday you weren't coming, and so I never ordered the
carriage, but came out in saddle--I can't say on _horse_back with such a
wreck as this, but every decent horse in the Presidio had to go out with
the generals and staffs, you know, and I had to take what I could
get--both horse and escort," she added, in confidential tone. "Oh!--May I
present Mr. Ellis? He knows you all by name already." The youth in
attendance and a McClellan tree two sizes too big for him, lifted his cap
and strove to smile; he had ridden nothing harder than a park hack before
that day. "Frank says I talk of nothing else. But--where's Mr. Gray?
Surely I thought _he_ would be with you." This for Armstrong's benefit in
case he were in the least interested in either damsel.

"Mr. Gray was detained by some duties in camp," explained Miss Prime,
with just a trace of reserve that was lost upon neither their new
companion nor the colonel. It settled a matter the placid officer was
revolving in his mind.

"Pardon us, Mrs. Garrison," he said briefly. "We must hurry. Go on,
driver."

"Oh, _I_ can keep up," was the indomitable answer, "even on this
creature." And Mrs. Garrison proved her words by whipping her steed into
a lunging canter and, sitting him admirably, rode gallantly alongside,
and just where Mr. Prime could not but see and admire since Colonel
Armstrong would not look at all. He had entered into an explanation of
the ceremony by that time well under way, and Miss Lawrence's great soft
brown eyes were fixed upon him attentively when, perhaps, she should have
been gazing at the maneuvers. Like those latter, possibly, her thoughts
were "changing direction."

Not ten minutes later occurred the collision between the hack and the
heels that resulted in the demolition of one and "demoralization" of the
rider of the victor. While the latter was led away by the obedient Mr.
Ellis lest the sight of him should bring on another nervous attack, Mrs.
Garrison was suffering herself to be comforted. Her nerves were gone, but
she had not lost her head. Lots of Presidio dame