like the Commandant, and I ought not to
dislike the Capitaine; but I cannot marry one without offending the
others; and, if I were to marry out here in the Desert, Tom, would you
stay, too?"

We had been living in such utter fairy-land lately, that I felt as if it
were quite possible for me to marry some brown-skinned, soft-eyed
Rebecca, and turn Mahometan. But, in any case, could I desire for my
sister a happier fate than to marry one of these brave gentlemen, and
live in the sunny South all the rest of her days? She would be rescued
from a life of toil and friendlessness, and have another protector
besides her Bohemian of a brother.

"My dear child," I said, "it would be impossible for me to say that our
lives should be spent together; but you may be quite sure that nothing
would utterly divide them. The chief point is, of all your lovers, whom
do you love?"

To this question I could elicit no positive reply. Mary, in fact, was
half in love with the General and the Commandant, and wholly in love
with the Lieutenant, and was quite incapable of deciding her own fate.

"You must not laugh at me," she said, simply, as we bade each other
good-night; "it is so new to me to have lovers, and so delightful, that
I wish I could go on forever being happy, and making them happy, without
marrying either." Then she blushed and ran off to bed.

The next morning we were taking our early coffee, when we heard the
clatter of horses' feet, and, looking out, saw one of the General's
splendid, brown-skinned, red-cloaked spahis dashing into the town at a
furious rate. He pulled up at Dominique's door, and, letting his little
barb prance and rear at will, looked towards us, showing his white teeth
and waving a letter in one hand.

I left my breakfast and ran down to him. We exchanged "salamaleks," and
then he put the letter in my hand, adding, in broken French, "Le
General,--envoyer cela,--va faire le guerre,--la-bas." Then he put spurs
to his horse's flanks, and dashed away as fast as he had come.

I broke the seal of the General's letter, which ran as follows:

"Monsieur,--This morning at daybreak I received telegraphic
information that a serious rising has taken place among the tribes
southward of Fig-gig, and I have resolved to march upon them
without delay. Judge, monsieur, how more than sorry I am to be
forced to quit the society of your charming sister and yourself
without making my adieux; but