scally
Frenchmen had drained the country of everything worth drinking; our
agent, very wisely, under the circumstances, made no purchase there,
and I am glad of it; for I have since learned, that the Amontillado,
which had been recommended to us as the dryest of sherry wines, is
made from a variety of grapes plucked before they are ripe."

"How lucky," said Lady Mabel, in a congratulatory tone, "that you have
since found out that this wine is made of sour grapes."

A faint suspicion that she was laughing at him induced him to change
the topic. "You were never abroad before, I believe. This part of the
country has some drawbacks; but I think you will find it, during the
winter, a very pleasant part of the world."

"We will all endeavor to make it so to you, Lady Mabel," said Major
Warren, who, impatient of his superior's monopoly, here tried to edge
in a word. But the colonel cut him short with "That's a mere truism,
Warren, a self-evident proposition. Let us have nothing more of that
sort. One of the peculiarities of this climate, Lady Mabel, is that it
has a double spring: one in February and another in April. Then we
will see you take your appropriate place in the picture, representing
the heyday of youth in the midst of spring, and beauty, surrounded by
flowers."

She bowed low, in suppressing a laugh at this elaborate compliment,
and said, "Will spring be so soon upon us?"

"In a fortnight you may gather the same flowers which at home you must
wait for till May."

"Not the same flowers," said she, quickly. "Portugal has a Flora
peculiar to itself, embracing very few of our native British plants. I
am on my strong ground on this topic, being a pupil of Dr. Graham, who
relieves his graver studies by striving to rival King Solomon in the
knowledge of plants, 'from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that
grows on the wall.' I am pledged to carry home a vast _hortus siccus_
for him."

"Oh! a scientific young lady--perhaps a little of a blue-stocking,
too," said the colonel to himself. "I must hash up a dish to suit her
peculiar taste. Though no botanist," continued he aloud, "there is one
plant that has strongly attracted my attention, and I recommend it to
yours; though your _hortus siccus_ will hardly contain a fair specimen
of it."

"What is that?" said she, on the _qui vive_ to hear of some rare
plant.

"It is the cork-oak," said the colonel, solemnly. "Its rough exterior
has led tourists and artists, an