d, a man
cuts a ridiculous figure when he is sulking, my appearance must have
been truly laughable. But the little lady was very sweet and patient.
Her eyes were so full of tears, as she afterward confessed, that she
could hardly see to guide her horse.

When I came to take note of my surroundings I could not refrain from
uttering an exclamation of surprise. We had issued from the forest,
when or how I knew not, and were now ascending a very steep hill.
Looking back, I saw a mill behind me, and noticed that Whistling Jim
was engaged in conversation with the miller. He was evidently
negotiating for meal or flour; but it all came to me as in a dream.

"Did you see the mill as we came by?" I asked.

"Certainly," the little lady replied. "Didn't you hear me speak to the
miller?"

"I don't know how I am to forgive you for seeing and hearing things. I
didn't know we had come out of the wood."

She laughed merrily and laid her face against my arm, but when she
lifted it she was crying. "Oh, don't make it too hard for me," she
pleaded. "I am not myself to-day. Duty has been poisoned for me, and I
shall be wretched until this war is over. Surely it can't last long."

"Not longer than a century," I replied, bitterly.

"Look yonder!" she exclaimed.

We had now reached the top of the hill, and when I looked in the
direction in which she pointed, I saw a sight that thrilled me.

XIV

From the crest of the hill a vast panorama, bare but beautiful,
stretched out before us. The hill was not a mountain--indeed, from the
direction of our approach, it seemed to be rather an insignificant
hill; but on the farther side the land fell away from it quite
unexpectedly, so that what seemed to be a hill from one side developed
the importance almost of a mountain on the other side. The road dropped
into a valley that ran away from the hill and spread out for miles and
miles until it faded against the horizon and was lost in the distance.
The season was winter, and the view was a sombre one, but its extent
gave it a distinction all its own. Far to the left a double worm-fence
ran, and we knew that a road lay between, for along its lazy length a
troop of cavalry trailed along.

I knew it instantly for the rear-guard of my command, and the sight of
it thrilled me. I suppose something of a glow must have come into my
face, for the little woman at my side stirred impatiently. "That is
your command," she said, "and you are glad to