fetlocks and hoofs. Finally, as the Doctor had no stables, Master Arthur informed us that he had made arrange

ments about putting up the horses; and while the rest of us went into the house, he volunteered to take the phaeton round to the inn. He and the Count went off together.

Then there was a wild commotion on the first landing, a confused tumble and rush down stairs, and presently Bell and Tita were catching up two boys and hugging them, and pulling out all sorts of mysterious presents.

"Heh! how fens tee, Jeck? gaily?' cried Auntie Bell, whose broad Cumberlandshire vastly delighted the youngsters. "Why, Twom, thou's growin' a big lad -thou mud as weel be a sodger as at schuil. Can tee dance a whornpipe yet? -what, nowther o' ye? Dost think I's gaun to gie a siller watch to twa feckless fallows that canna dance a whornpipe?"

But here Bell's mouth was stopped by a multitude of kisses, and, having had to confess that the two silver watches were really in her pocket, she was drawn into the parlour by the two boys, and made to stand and deliver.

CHAPTER III.

PRINZ EUGEN, DER EDLE RITTER.'
"What can Tommy Onslow do?

He can drive a phaeton and two. Can Tommy Onslow do no more?" MEANWHILE, what had become of the Lieutenant, and Arthur, and Castor and Pollux, to say nothing of the phaeton, which had now been transferred from its accustomed home in Surrey to spend a night under a shed in Twickenham ? The crooked by-ways and narrow streets of that curious little village were getting rapidly darker under the falling dusk, and here and there orange lamps were beginning to shine in the blue-gray of the twilight, when I set out to discover the stable to which our horses had been confided. I had got but half-way to the public-house, when I met Arthur. The ordinarily mild and gentle face of this

young man-which would be quite feminine in character, but for a soft, pale-yellow moustache-looked rather gloomy.

"Where is the Count?" I asked of

him.

"Do you mean that German fellow?" he said.

The poor young man! It was easy to detect the cause of that half-angry contempt with which he spoke of our lieutenant. It was jealousy, with its green eyes and dark imaginings; and the evening, I could see, promised us a pretty spectacle of the farce of Bell and the Dragon. At present I merely requested Master Arthur to answer my question.

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'Well," said he, with a fine expression of irony-the unhappy wretch! as if it were not quite obvious that he was more inclined to cry-"if you want to keep him out of the police-office, you'd better go down to the stables of the

He has raised a pretty quarrel there, I can tell you-kicked the ostler half across the yard-knocked heaps of things to smithereens-and is ordering everybody about, and fuming and swearing in a dozen different inarticulate languages. I wish you joy of your companion. You will have plenty of adventures by the way; but what will you do with all the clocks you gather?"

"Go home, you stupid boy, and thank God you have not the gift of sarcasm. Bell is waiting for you. You will talk very sensibly to her, I dare say; but don't make any jokes-not for some years to come."

Arthur went his way into the twilight, as wretched a young man as there was that evening in Twickenham.

Now in front of the public-house, and adjoining the entrance into the yard, a small and excited crowd had collected of all the idlers and loungers who hang about the doors of a tavern. In the middle of them-as you could see when the yellow light from the window streamed through a chink in the cluster of human figures-there was a small, square-set, bandy-legged man, with a red waistcoat, a cropped head, and a peaked cap, with the peak turned side

ways. He was addressing his companions alternately, in an odd mixture of Buckinghamshire patois and Middle sex pronunciation, somewhat in this fashion :

"I baint afeard of 'm, or any other darned foreigner, the An' I've looked arter awsses afore he wur born, and I'd like to see the mahn as 'll tell me what I don't know about 'em. I've kept my plaäce for fifteen yur, and I'll bet the coöt on my bahck as my missus 'll say there niver wur a better in the plaäce; an' as fur thaht furrener in there, the law 'll teach him summut, or I'm werry much mistaken. Eh, Arry? Baint I right?"

This impassioned appeal from the excited small man was followed by a general chorus of assent.

I made my way down the yard, between the shafts of dog-carts and the poles of disabled omnibuses that loomed from out the darkness of a long and low shed.

Down at the foot of this narrow and dusky channel, a stable door was open, and the faint yellow light occasionally caught the figure of a man who was busy grooming a horse outside. As I picked my way over the rough stones, I could hear that he was occasionally interrupting the hissing noise peculiar to the work with a snatch of a song, carelessly sung in a deep and sufficiently powerful voice. What was it he sang?

"Prinz Eugen, der edle Ritterhisssssss- -wollt' dem Kaiser wiedrum kriegen- -wo! my beauty—so ho!Stadt und Festung Belgarad!-hold up, my lad! wo ho!"

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'Hillo, Oswald, what are you about?" "Oh, only looking after the horses," said our young Uhlan, slowly raising himself up.

He was in a remarkable state of undress--his coat, waistcoat, and collar having been thrown on the straw inside the stable and he held in his hand a brush.

"The fellows at this inn they are very ignorant of horses, or very careless."

"I hear you have been kicking 'em all about the place."

"Why not? You go in to have a glass of beer and see the people. You come back to the stables. The man says he has fed the horses-it is a lie. He says he has groomed them-it is a lie. Jott im Himmel! can I not see? Then I drive him away-I take out corn for myself, also some beans-he comes back -he is insolent-I fling him into the yard-he falls over the pai-he lies and groans-that is very good for him, it will teach him to mind his business, not to tell lies, and to steal the price of the corn."

I pointed out to this cool young person that if he went kicking insolent ostlers all over the country, he would get us into trouble.

"Is it not a shame they do not know their work and that they will ruin good horses to steal a sixpence from you?"

"Besides," I said, "it is not prudent to quarrel with an ostler, for you must leave your horses under his care; and if he should be ill-natured, he may do them a mischief during the night."

The Count laughed, as he untied the halter and led Pollux into a loose box.

"Do not be alarmed. I never allow any man to lock up my horses if I am among strangers. I do that myself. I will lock up this place and take the key, and to-morrow at six I will come round and see them fed. No! you must not object. It is a great pleasure of mine to look after horses, and I shall become friends with these two in a very few days. You must let me manage them always."

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And groom them twice a day?"

'Nee, Jott bewahre! When there is a man who can do it, I will not; but when there is no one, it is a very good thing to help yourself."

Lieutenant Oswald von Rosen had clearly learned how to conjugate the verb requiriren during his sojourn in Bohemia and in France. He made another raid on the corn and split beans, got up into the loft and crammed down plenty of hay, and then bringing a heap of clean straw into the place,

tossed it plentifully about the loose box devoted to Pollux, and about Castor's stall. Then he put on his upper vestments, brought away the candle, locked the door, and put the key in his pocket, humming all the time something about "die dreimal hunderttausend Mann."

When we had got to the gate of the yard, he stalked up to the smallcrowd of idlers, and said— "Which of you is the man who did tumble over the pail ? It is you, you little fellow? Well, you deserve much more than you got; but here is a half-crown for you to buy stickingplaster with."

The small ostler held back, but his companions, who perceived that the half-crown meant beer, urged him to go forward and take it; which he did, saying

"Well, I doan't bear no malice."

"And next time you have gentlemen's horses put into your stables, don't try to steal the price of their corn," said the Lieutenant; and with that he turned and walked away.

"Who is the gentleman who came with me?" asked my young friend, as we went back to the house; "he is a nice young man, but he does not know the difference between hay and straw, and I begged him not to remain. And he would not drink the beer of this public-house; but that is the way of all you Englishmen-you are so particular about things, and always thinking of your health, and always thinking of living, instead of living and thinking nothing about it. Ah, you do not know how fine a thing it is to live until you have been in a campaign, my dear friend; and then you know how fine it is that you can eat with great hunger, and how fine it is when you get a tumbler of wine, and how fine it is to sleep. You are very glad, then, to be able to walk firm on your legs, and find yourself alive and strong. But always, I think, your countrymen do not enjoy being alive so much as mine; they are always impatient for something, trying to do something, hoping for something, in

stead of being satisfied of finding every day a good new day, and plenty of satisfaction in it, with talking to people, and seeing things, and a cigar now and again. Just now, when I wake, I laugh to myself, and say, 'How very good it is to sleep in a bed, and shut yourself out. from noise, and get up when you please!' Then you have a good breakfast, and all the day begins afresh, and you have no fear of being crippled and sent off to the hospital. Oh! it is very good to have this freedom-this carelessness-this seeing of new things and new people every day. And that is a very pretty young lady become, your Miss Bell: I do remember her only a shy little girl, who spoke German with your strange English way of pronouncing the vowels, and was very much bashful over it. Oh yes, she is very good-looking, indeed; her hair looks as if there were streaks of sunshine in the brown, and her eyes are very thoughtful, and she has a beautiful outline of the chin that makes her neck and throat very pretty. And, you know, I rather like the nose not hooked, like most of your English young ladies; when it is a little the other way, and fine, and delicate, it makes the face piquant and tender, not haughty and cold, nicht wahr? But yet she is very Englishlooking; I would take her as a—as a— a-type, do you call it ?-of the pretty young Englishwoman, well-formed, openeyed, with good healthy colour in her face, and very frank and gentle, and independent, all at the same time. Oh, she is a very good girl-a very good girl, I can see that."

"Yes," I said, "I think she will marry that young fellow whom you saw to-night."

"And that will be very good for him," he replied, easily; "for she will look after him and give him some common sense. He is not practical; he has not seen much; he is moody, and nervous, and thinks greatly about trifles. But I think he will be very amiable to her, and that is much. You know, all the best women marry stupid men."

There was, however, no need for our going into that dangerous subject; for

at this moment we arrived at Dr. Ashburton's house. Von Rosen rushed upstairs to his room, to remove the traces of his recent employment; and then, as we both entered the drawing-room, we found Bell standing right under the central gaselier, which was pouring its rays down on her wealth of goldenbrown hair. Indeed, she then deserved all that Von Rosen had said about her being a type of our handsomest young Englishwomen-rather tall, well-formed, showing a clear complexion, and healthy rosiness in her cheeks, while there was something at once defiant and gentle in her look. Comely enough she was to attract the notice of any stranger; but it was only those who had spent years with her, and had observed all her winning ways, her unselfishness, and the rare honour and honesty that lay behind all her pretty affectations of petulance, and the wild nonsense of her tongue, who could really tell what sort of young person our Bonny Bell was. She was sufficiently handsome to draw eyes towards her:

"But if ye saw that which no eyes can see, The inward beauty of her lovely spirit, Garnished with heavenly gifts of high degree, Much more then would ye wonder at that sight.

There dwell sweet Love and constant
Chastity,

Unspotted Faith, and comely Womanhood,
Regard of Honour, and mild Modesty.”

And it must be said that during this evening Bell's conduct was beyond all praise. Arthur Ashburton was rather cold and distant towards her, and was obviously in a rather bad temper. He even hovered on the verge of rudeness towards both herself and the Lieutenant. Now, nothing delighted Bell more than to vary the even and pleasant tenor of her life with a series of pretty quarrels which had very little element of seriousness in them; but on this evening, when she was provoked into quarrelling in earnest, nothing could exceed the good sense, and gentleness, and forbearance she showed. At dinner she sat between the young

barrister and his father, a quiet, little, gray-haired man in spectacles, with small black eyes that twinkled strangely when he made his nervous little jokes, and looked over to his wife-the very matter-of-fact and roseate woman who sat at the opposite end of the table. a much more The old Doctor was pleasant companion than his son; but Bell, with wonderful moderation, did her best to re-establish good relations between the moody young barrister and herself. Of course, no woman will prolong such overtures indefinitely; and at last the young gentleman managed to establish a more serious breach than he had dreamed of. For the common talk had drifted back to the then recent war, and our lieutenant was telling us a story about three Uhlanen, who had, out of mere bravado, ridden down the main street of a French village, and out at the other end, without having been touched by the shots fired at them, when young Ashburton added, with a laugh

"I suppose they were so padded with the watches and jewellery they had gathered on their way, that the bullets glanced off."

Count von Rosen looked across the table at the young man, with a sort of wonder in his light-blue eyes; and then, with admirable self-control, he turned to my Lady Tita, and calmly continued. the story.

But as for Bell, a blush of shame and exceeding mortification overspread her features. No madness of jealousy could excuse this open insult to a stranger and

a guest. From that moment, Bell addressed herself exclusively to the old Doctor, and took no more notice of his son than if he had been in the moon. She was deeply hurt, but she managed to conceal her disappointment; and indeed, when the boys came in after dinner, she had so far picked up her spirits as to be able to talk to them in that wild way which they regarded with mingled awe and delight. For they

could not understand how Auntie Bell was allowed to use strange words, and even talk Cumberlandshire to the Doctor's own face.

small boy?"

"But you haven't got a cold, Auntie Bell."

"Oh, haven't I! You don't know there are all sorts of colds. There's the little fairy that sits and tickles you with a feather, just now and again, you know; and there's the sweep that drives a tremendous whalebone brush up and down, and makes you blue in the face with fighting him. Mind, when the sweep does get hold of you, it's a terrible bother to shunt him out."

"Bell," said my Lady, with a sharpness that made the boys look frightened, "you must not teach the children such phrases."

"I think it's very hard that a grownup person can't speak three words without being scolded," remarked Bell, confidentially, to Master Tom; and that young ruffian, looking covertly at his mother, grinned as widely as a mouthful of apple would let him.

So the boys had their half-glass of wine, and Bell swept them away with her into the drawing-room, when the women left.

"A very bright young lady-hm !— a very bright and pleasant young lady indeed," said the Doctor, stretching out his short legs with an air of freedom, and beginning to examine the decanters. "I don't wonder the young fellows rave about her; eh, Arthur, eh?"

Master Arthur rose and left the

room.

"Touched, eh?" said the father, with his eyes twinkling vehemently, and his small gray features twisted into a smile. No. 147.-VOL. XXV.

again. Our young friend here is of another sort; there is no care about a woman tempering the healthy brown of the sun and the weather, eh ?—is there, eh?"

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Why, my dear Doctor," cried the Lieutenant, with a prodigious laugh, "don't you think Lydia's loverLydia, dic, you know-he was very glad to be away from rough sports? He had other enjoyments. I am brown, not because of my wish, but that I have been made to work, that is all."

The Doctor was overjoyed, and, perhaps, a trifle surprised, to find that this tall Uhlan, who had just been grooming two horses, understood his references to Horace; and he immediately cried out

"No, no; you must not lose your health, and your colour, and your temper. Would you have your friends. say of you, who have just been through a campaign in France