were separated by half the
length of the board. Lady Mabel had Colonel Bradshawe, whom she did
not want, close at hand; and her dragoman was out of hearing, which
she felt to be not only inconvenient, but a grievance; for without
entertaining any definite designs upon him, habit had already given
her a sort of property in him, and a right to his services. But the
Elvas ladies had no such ground of complaint. Each had her favorite by
her side, and Dona Carlotta one on either hand.

It was a relief to Lady Mabel when the time came to lead the ladies
back to her drawing-room. There she labored to entertain them until
some of the gentlemen found leisure to come to her aid. She expected
to see L'Isle among the first; but one after another came in without
him; the Portuguese ladies were taken off her hands by their more
intimate male friends, and she had leisure to wonder what could keep
L'Isle down stairs so long, and to get out of humor at his sticking to
the bottle, and neglecting better company for it.

Meanwhile, a great controversy was waging below. The more the
disputants drank, the more strenuously they discussed the point at
issue; and the more they exhausted themselves in argument, the oftener
they refreshed themselves by drinking; swallowing many a glass
unconsciously in the heat of the debate.

The farmer talks of seasons and his crops; the merchant of traffic and
his gains; and the soldier, though less narrow in his range of topics,
often dwells on the incidents and characteristics of military life. In
answer to some very loose notions on the subject of discipline, L'Isle
mounted his hobby, and said that he had pretty much come into the
mechanical theory on military matters. "An army is a machine; the men
composing it, parts of that machine; and the more their personal and
individual characters are obliterated, by assimilating them to the
nature of precise and definite parts of one complicated organization,
the better will they serve their purpose. Now, a machine should be
kept always in perfect order and readiness for instant application to
the purpose of its construction. An army is a machine contrived for
fighting battles; and if at any time it is not in a condition to fight
to the best advantage, it is in a state of deterioration and partial
disorganization. Troops, therefore, should be kept, at all times and
under all circumstances, under the same rigid discipline, and in the
full exercise of their funct