reated him
with the favor which the agreeable visitor always receives, she now
extended to him only the stately courtesy of entire indifference. The
visible change in the cordiality of her receptions had opened his eyes,
and revealed the nature of his unpromising position. But his disposition
was too buoyant, his character too energetic, to allow him to despair.

Latterly, however, a new obstacle to his suit had presented itself, in
the person of a rival, upon whom the object of his ambitious wishes
appeared to bestow unusual favor. This individual was a young officer
in the army, a sort of _protege_ of the lady's father, who had been
spending a furlough at Bellevue. In the matter of fortune Maxwell's
rival was not to be dreaded, for he knew the lady was not mercenary in
her views. The young captain was penniless; but his family was good, and
he had the advantage of being a favorite with the father. He had won for
himself a name on the fields of Mexico, which went far to enlist a
lady's favor. He was a universal favorite both with the public and in
the private circle.

Maxwell considered this young officer a formidable rival, and he
resolved to retrieve himself at once. Upon his personal attractions he
relied to overcome the lady's disfavor; and, notwithstanding the
unequivocal intention of discountenancing his suit she had manifested,
he resolved to open his campaign by addressing her, eloquently and
tenderly, through the medium of a letter. He felt that he could in this
manner gain her attention to his suit,--a point which his vanity assured
him was equivalent to a victory. But his philosophy and his vanity were
both sorely tried by the return of the letter unopened. His point was
lost, and he was harassing his fertile brain with vain attempts to
suggest any scheme short of honest, straight-forward wooing,--which the
circumstances seemed to interdict,--when the visit of the lady herself
rendered further efforts useless.

His position, resting, as it did, on the purpose of marrying the
heiress,--a purpose too deeply incorporated with his future prospects to
be resigned,--was now a desperate one. Through the long vista of
struggles and difficulties he saw his end, and the fact that he had to
some extent compromised his heart stimulated him still more to meet and
overcome the barriers that environed him.

For an hour after the lady's departure the young lawyer pondered the
obstacles which beset him. With the aspect o