hank you,' I replied stiffly.

'I suppose you are very busy making preparations?'

'Very.'

'And you are going soon?'

'I hope so.'

Kate left the room. I wished she was back again a thousand times. How
kind and shy she looked. If there was a gleam of hope--that tall fellow
in uniform--no, she might stay away forever. And yet my heart gave a
great leap as she appeared again.

'I want to show you a photograph, Mr. Armstrong,' she said, blushing and
smiling. I took it. It was the officer in uniform, with the tremendous
mustache and flashing eyes.

'It is my brother Frank. Does he look like me?'

I started as if I had been shot.

'Miss Kate, I want to take a walk now, and I should like some company.
Will you go with me?'

'Hadn't we better have tea first?' she said, smiling. 'The bell has just
rung.'

I do not know how that tea passed off, whether we had jumbles or
muffins, whether I drank tea or cold water; but I knew that opposite me
sat Kate, radiant in pink muslin, and when the interminable tea was
over, we were going to take a walk together. I was thinking what I
should say. I am generally a sociable and genial man, and it seems to me
that on this particular evening I was assaulted with a storm of
questions and remarks.

'Don't you think so, Mr. Armstrong?' asked the lady on my right, the
lady on my left, and the gentleman in black at the end of the table. I
aimed monosyllables at them promiscuously, and have at present no means
of knowing whether they fitted the questions and remarks or not.

In the midst of a mental speech, I was vigorously assaulted by Mary, the
table girl, and, looking about me in surprise, I caught a glimpse of the
boardinghouse cat just disappearing through the door:

'And sure, Mr. Armstrong, yer must be blind. The blow was intended for
the cat, and she had her paw in yer plate.'

Perhaps you do not know how pleasant it is to take a walk with a little
gloved hand resting upon your arm, little feet keeping step with yours,
and a soft voice chiming in with everything you say. I was happy on that
particular night. We walked on the Common. The stars shone, and the long
branches of the old elms swayed to and fro in the moonlight, as we
passed under them. It was just the time and place that I liked.

'Miss Kate,' I began, 'in a few days I shall be far away from home and
friends, amid danger and death, fighting the battles of my country. I
have known you but a short time; but that