d with which will be associated several of the
incidents of this story. He passed the inn of the place so as to avoid
the queries and comments of the loungers who might be congregated there,
and pulled up at a neat farm house on the outskirts. Without
dismounting, he asked that his horse might be watered, while he
requested for himself a bowl of milk and a few drops of that good old
Jamaica which all Canadian families had the good sense to keep in their
houses at this period. As he was thus comforting himself, he noticed a
pair of sparkling blue eyes laughing at him through the narrow panes of
the road window. He did not try to be very inquisitive, but he could not
help observing, in addition, that the roguish blue eyes belonged to a
face of rare beauty, and that the form of the lady--for she was a lady,
every inch of her--so far as it could be defined by the diminutive
aperture, was of an exquisitely graceful mould. One observation led to
another, and he very naturally associated this lady with the purple
pinion that sat on the back of a little bay mare which was hitched near
the door.

His own horse had drained his bucket, and was champing his bit, as if
anxious to be off once more; he himself had emptied his bowl and he was
vainly endeavoring to force a few pieces of coin upon the denying
farmer, when the door of the dwelling opened and the lady walked forth.
She arranged the bridle herself, and placing her foot on the lowest step
of the porch, seated herself snugly in the saddle without assistance.
Then wishing the farmer and the farmer's jolly wife and the farmer's
multitudinous children a sweet _bonjour_, she gently cantered away, not
without a parting shaft from those murderous blue eyes at the handsome
cavalier. Venus and Adonis! but she was going in his direction. So,
bowing politely to the household, he immediately followed, and to his
unspeakable delight--for this was an adventure he certainly had not
looked for--he caught up with her at the first turn of the road. When he
came alongside, he pulled in his reins, took off his cap and bowed. The
salute was returned with a superb yet easy grace. His ardent glance took
a full view of her with lightning speed and precision. He felt that he
was in the presence of a grand woman.

"As we seem to be travelling in the same direction, will mademoiselle
allow me to accompany her to her destination?"

"Thank you, sir; a military escort is always welcome, especially to a