, with bright red
wheels, lay overturned on two infantry men, who, even in death, held
their muskets firmly to their shoulders, like the grim old "die-hards"
that they were. The brigade of guards, a dozen red-coated veterans of
solid lead, who had taken up a strong position in the cover of a
cardboard box, still held their ground with a desperate valour only
equalled by the dogged pluck of a similar body of the enemy, who had
occupied the inkstand with the evident intention of remaining there
until the last cartridge had been expended.

Another volley swept the intervening stretch of tablecloth, and the
deadly missiles glanced against the glass bottles and rattled among the
pencils and penholders. Two men fell without a cry, and lay motionless
with their heads resting on the pen-wiper.

[Illustration: "Another volley swept the intervening stretch of
tablecloth."]

"Look here, Barbara, you're cheating! You put in more than two peas
that time, I know."

It was the commander-in-chief of the invading forces who spoke, and the
words were addressed to a very harum-scarum looking young lady, who
stood facing him on the opposite side of the table.

"How d'you know I did?" she cried.

"Because I saw them hit. There were three at least, and the rule was
that we weren't to fire more than two at a time."

"There weren't three, then," retorted the girl, laughing, and shaking
back her tangled locks with an impatient movement of her head. "There
were _six_! Ha! ha! I put them all in my mouth at once, and you never
noticed."

"Oh, you little cheat!" cried the boy. "I'll lick you."

The threat had evidently no terrors for her. She danced wildly round
the table, crying, "Six! six! six!" and when at length he caught her,
and held her by the waist, she turned round and rapped him smartly on
the head with a tin pea-shooter.

At this stage of the proceedings a lady, who had been sitting in a low
chair by the fire, looked up from her book.

"Come, come!" she said pleasantly. "I thought the day was past when
generals fought single combats in front of their men. Isn't that true,
Valentine?"

The tussle ceased at once; the boy released his sister, who laughed,
and shook herself like a small kitten.

"She's been cheating!" he exclaimed.

"I fired six peas instead of two!" cried the culprit, evidently
delighted with her little piece of wickedness. "And I knocked over two
of his silly old soldiers."

A girl, somewha