ys. Eugene, like all schoolboys escaped
from the master's eye, was perfectly ridiculous in his wild gambols and
inconsequential talk, but his nonsense gave zest to the merriment
precisely because it was suggestive of that freedom with which the
horrid front of war and the constant spectacle of armed men in the
neighborhood afforded so sad a contrast.

An hour had been spent in this pastime, when Zulma again checked herself
in the conversation, and as she turned her eyes to the window, they
flashed with a ray of exultation. Her long waiting had not been in vain.
The weary day would still have an agreeable ending. She was certain that
she heard the music of sleigh bells, and she knew who it was that had
come. A moment later, there was a rap at the door of the dining-room,
and Cary Singleton stood on the threshold. Zulma went rapidly forward to
meet him, receiving him with a cordiality and enthusiasm which she had
never previously manifested. After the formal introduction was made,
Cary excused himself for calling so late in the evening.

"Better late than never," exclaimed Zulma with an earnest indiscretion
which she tried to turn off by a laugh, but which the rapid wandering of
her great blue eyes showed that she was ashamed of.

Singleton bowed low, but there was no responsive smile upon his lip.

"Thank you, mademoiselle," said he, "but a little more and I should
perhaps _never_ have returned here."

There was a general expression of surprise.

The young officer explained that a forward movement of the American army
was about to take place, and that he had received orders that very
afternoon to abandon his quarters.

"The order was peremptory," he added, "and I should have had to obey it
without delay, but fortunately the snow-storm came on with such violence
towards evening that our departure was postponed till to-morrow morning.
The opportunity I regarded as providential and seized it to make what
may be my last visit."

The light went out of Zulma's eyes and she bowed her head. Her father
broke the perplexing silence by saying cheerily:

"I trust that this will not be your last visit, sir. Indeed, I feel
certain that we shall meet each other again. If in the varying fortunes
of war, you should ever need my help, only let me know and you shall
have it."

Zulma looked up and there was that imploring tenderness in her eyes
which gave Cary to understand that she too, in the hour of need, would
fly to his ass