er at its undisguised admiration, he walked
away, humming gayly to himself Goethe's lines,--

"Maiden's heart and city's wall
Were made to yield, were made to fall;
When we've held them each their day,
Soldier-like we march away."

IX

"S.P." AND THE BARON

Dinner was over, and the _salon_ deserted by all but the two young
ladies, who sat apart, apparently absorbed in novels, while each
was privately longing for somebody to come, and with the charming
inconsistency of the fair sex, planning to fly if certain somebodies
_did_ appear.

Steps approached; both buried themselves in their books; both held
their breath and felt their hearts flutter as they never had done
before at the step of mortal man. The door opened; neither looked up,
yet each was conscious of mingled disappointment and relief when the
major said, in a grave tone, "Girls, I've something to tell you."

"We know what it is, sir," returned Helen, coolly.

"I beg your pardon, but you don't, my dear, as I will prove in five
minutes, if you will give me your attention."

The major looked as if braced up to some momentous undertaking; and
planting himself before the two young ladies, dashed bravely into the
subject.

"Girls, I've played a bold game, but I've won it, and will take the
consequences."

"They will fall heaviest on you, uncle," said Helen, thinking he was
about to declare his love for the widow.

The major laughed, shrugged his shoulders, and answered, stoutly,--

"I'll bear them; but you are quite wrong, my dear, in your surmises,
as you will soon see. Helen is my ward, and accountable to me alone.
Amy's mother gave her into my charge, and won't reproach me for
anything that has passed when I explain matters. As to the lads they
must take care of themselves."

Suddenly both girls colored, fluttered, and became intensely
interested. The major's eyes twinkled as he assumed a perfectly
impassive expression, and rapidly delivered himself of the following
thunderbolt,--

"Girls, you have been deceived, and the young men you love are
impostors."

"I thought so," muttered Helen, grimly.

"Oh, uncle, don't, don't say that!" cried Amy, despairingly.

"It's true, my dears; and the worst of it is, I knew the truth all the
time. Now, don't have hysterics, but listen and enjoy the joke as I
do. At Coblentz, when you sat in the balcony, two young men overheard
Amy sigh for adventures, and Helen advise making a romance out of t