de by side. And so, with blare of brass and sharp
staccato of snare-drums, with sheen of rifles and accoutrements, with
flash of slender swords, raised in salute,--above all and always, with
that magnificent unanimity, that mighty pulse of the thunderous
advance, the Ninth swept past its Governor and its Colonel in review.

And then, in an instant, as it seemed, the vast square was formed again,
a sharp command rang out, the rifles snapped to a present-arms, the
standards dipped, and the strains of the "Star-Spangled Banner" mounted
triumphantly to the great girders of the lofty roof. The multitude of
spectators rose at the sound, and the Lieutenant-Governor rose with
them, his heart aglow with new inspiration, new hope, and new resolve.
The band was almost speaking the words of the anthem on the dust-grayed
air:--

"Oh! say, does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free, and the home of the brave?"

To the accompaniment of a myriad clapping hands, the Lieutenant-Governor
resumed his seat, shaken by a novel, tremendous emotion. Yes! a thousand
times yes! The star-spangled banner, symbol of loftiest ideals and
purest purposes, mute memorial and reminder of devotion incalculable and
sacrifice without bound, guarantee of liberty and brotherhood, mercy,
equality, and justice--yet waved! And, part and indissoluble portion of
its inspiring memories and illustrious destinies, the star of Alleghenia
yet blazed upon its azure field! He had been living in a world of
unrealities, in a valley of shadow, grayed by portents of failure and
despair. His eyes had been narrowed to see the pitfalls which lined his
path, to the stumbling-blocks, the briers, the indescribable sordidness
of his personal position and his immediate surroundings. Now, he looked
up and horizonward. The thunder-clouds of official depravity and
duplicity which darkened the way of his endeavor--were they able, after
all, to blot out the memory of the clear, high sky above?

As this thought came to him, it was almost as if, in actuality, a
brooding heaven had been rent asunder, revealing the steel-blue of the
infinite ether permeated with the supreme radiance of noon; and at the
incursion of this illuminating element the host of his discouragements
dwindled and disappeared, like noisome little prowlers of the night,
scuttling to cover at the abrupt break of a tropical day. For a moment,
he strove to realize whence the light had come, a