t his mother's home in England, that his people might see her.
But she declined, sir! She declined to pass in review before his
mother. She said it was for HIM to pass in review before HER mother.

"Did she say that?" interrupted Paul, fixing his bright eyes upon the
colonel.

"If she had one, if she had one," corrected the colonel, hastily. "Of
course it was only an illustration. That she is an orphan is generally
known, sir."

There was a dead silence for a few moments. The colonel leaned back in
his chair and pulled his moustache. Paul turned away his eyes, and
seemed absorbed in reflection. After a moment the colonel coughed,
pushed aside his glass, and, leaning across the table, said, "I have a
favor to ask of you, Mr. Hathaway."

There was such a singular change in the tone of his voice, an
unexpected relaxation of some artificial tension,--a relaxation which
struck Paul so pathetically as being as much physical as mental, as if
he had suddenly been overtaken in some exertion by the weakness of
age,--that he looked up quickly. Certainly, although still erect and
lightly grasping his moustache, the colonel looked older.

"By all means, my dear colonel," said Paul warmly.

"During the time you remain here you can hardly help meeting Miss
Arguello, perhaps frequently. It would be strange if you did not; it
would appear to everybody still stranger. Give me your word as a
gentleman that you will not make the least allusion to her of the
past--nor reopen the subject."

Paul looked fixedly at the colonel. "I certainly had no intention of
doing so," he said after a pause, "for I thought it was already settled
by you beyond disturbance or discussion. But do I understand you, that
SHE has shown any uneasiness regarding it? From what you have just told
me of her plans and ambition, I can scarcely imagine that she has any
suspicion of the real facts."

"Certainly not," said the colonel hurriedly. "But I have your promise."

"I promise you," said Paul, after a pause, "that I shall neither
introduce nor refer to the subject myself, and that if SHE should
question me again regarding it, which is hardly possible, I will reveal
nothing without your consent."

"Thank you," said Pendleton, without, however, exhibiting much relief
in his face. "She will return here to-morrow."

"I thought you said she was absent for some days," said Paul.

"Yes; but she is coming back to say good-by to Dona Anna, who arrive