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luce the ivy.
Yrae love Is Ilk© th 0 * ^olfi,
That clings eaoli day with firmer hold
That groweth on through good and 111,
And ’mid the tempest cllageth still.
What though the wall on which It climbs
Have lost the grace of former times,
Will then Ihe Ivy loose Its hold,
Forget the sunny days of old f
Nay, rather It will closer cling
With loving clasp, remembering
That It had hardly lived at all
Without the Kludly shelt’rlag wall.
True love Is llfce the Ivy bold,
That clings eaoh day with firmer hold ;
That groweth on through good and lit,
And ’mid the tempest cllngeth Btlli.
True love Is like the Ivy green,
That ne'er forgetteth what hath been,
And so, till life Itself be gone,
^JntU the end ltcllngeth on.
hat though the tree where it may ellng
hall hardly know auother spring?
What though Its boughs be dead and bare?
The twining Ivy climbeth there,
And olasps it with a firmer hold,
With stronger love than that of old,
And lends It grace It never had
When time was young and life was glad.
True love Is like the Ivy green,
That ne’er forgetteth what hath.been,
And so, till life Itself be gone,
Until the end It cllngeth on.
A Bieach of Discipline.
“Its no use speaking, Brereton; I
must go.”
“Are you mad, Kendal ? It’s your
night on guard, and you know what
.-a martinet the Colonel is.”
“Confound the Colonel! I tell you, I
will go. The Colonel’s not a dancing
man. He’ll know nothing about it.”
“Don’t you believe it. The Colonel’B
thick with those Lindsay girls, and
I’ll bet you ten to one he’s there to
meet them.”
“Oh hang it! I’ll take my chance
then,” was the reply in the dogged
tone of a man who knows he is in the
wrong, but does not choose to yield.
The speakers were two officers of ttye
—th Regiment, which had been quar
tered for the last six months ac Single-
norough. The subject of discussion
was a great public ball which was to
take place that evening. The regi
ment was to be relieved in a day or
two, and the ball would be the last at
which the gallant officers of the—th
would appear in that hospitable town.
It had been a gay weason, and the
redcoats had entered heartily into
the festivities, and now, that their
departure drew nigh, there might
.have been many an incipient heart
ache in a gentle bosom here and there.
The girls indeed of that favored dis
trict were so pretty, that even a brave
soldier might be excused if a pang
shot through his manly breast at the
•thought of leaving them behind.
Captain Kendal looked very obsti
nate as he answered the prudent ad
(monitions of his friend Brereton, who
gave a long whistle, and tapped the
'groufl^miinously with
Ity.
rtainty, for
reen as a hawk and
find you out. I say, man,
; give it up ; the game’s too
langtq^ls.
“Pooh!” exclaimed theother testily.
“I tell you the Colonel won’t be there,
and if he were, trust to me to dodge
him. Why, bless you 1 he’s blind as
a mole!”
His friend looked utterly uncon
vinced, but remonstrance .vas plainly
of no use. ^
“It’s all because of that Leslie girl,”
he said ruefully, for he was honestly
attached to his messmate, and saw
clearly the consequences whioh might
be expected to follow upon his attend
ance at the ball. “Lord! what an ass
spooning makes of a fellow! Thank
Heaven, I'm not in love !”
“Spare your eloquence and have
done now, can’t you?” replied Cap
tain Kendal ungraciously. “Go, I
must and will, but trust to me to take
care of myself.”
The two friends walked down the
rest of the street In silence till Brere
ton turned into his club, while the
•other went on, with a slightly anxious
frown on his handsome suu>burnt
face, and swinging his cane uneasily.
He knew Brereton was right, but
wrong is apt to be stronger than right
sometimes, and the temptation iu
this case was powerful. He was about
to commit, deliberately, a glaring
breach of military discipline, which,
if discovered, would assuredly cost
him dear and put an end to more
pleasant hopes than one. Neverthe
less he was quite determined to risk
it. It was his duty to keep guard
that night at the Royal Bank, and
his colonel was not a man who would
lightly overlook even a trifling offence
against the military code.
What, then, was the motive which
could induce this gallant young officer
of her majesty’s service, who had al
ready won distinction for his bravery
on the battle-field, and who had al
ways acquitted himself well and hon
orably heretofore, to plan so recklessly
so grave an infringement of duty as
the abandonment of the post he was
bound in all honor to guard.
We offer no excuse. But the ex
planation of his conduct must be
found in his state of mind, which wasa
abnormal. Brereton was right. There
was a woman in the case. Before his
mind’s eye, there danced a lovely
vision that lured the infatuated young
man from the right path ; a pair of
blue eyes, a sweet smile, a graceful
girlish form, to gaze on which the
foolish fellow would have traveled
miles!
And she was to be at the ball, sur
rounded by admiring swains, of one
or two of whom he was madly jealous ;
and who knew what might happen
while he was absent.
He might of course have spoken a
certain momentous little word before,
and he had thought, now and then,
that it would not have fallen on re
luctant ears. But he had gone on
basking in the sweet sunshine of her
smiles, too happy in the present to
think much of the future, and he had
just heard casually that to morrow
morning early she was to leave town
for her home in the country.
To-day, too, chance had brought a
sudden revelation to his heart. Till
then he had not been fully aware of
the strength of his own feelings for
that blue-eyed charmer. Ou turning
down a street corner, he had come
suddenly face to face with her, and in
close attendance upon her was Mad
dox of the —th Lancers, a brilliant
Adonis whom ladies were terribly
partial to. In his faee Harry Kendal
read something that made him trem
ble for his own hopes, and showed
him too, In a startling moment of
time, how hia whole life’s happiness
was bound up in them. That rapid
glance of recognition awoke a storm
of anxious fears in his breast, and left
the green-eyed monster raging there.
Was he at this important crisis of
fate to stand tamely aside and to leave
her to the wiles of that handsome
Lothario, to be whirled away from
him for ever in the waltz, during the
enchanted hours of that festive night,
while he kept lonely watch over old
money bags? Maddening thought!
And to-morrow she would be gone.
Oh, why had he not known sooner?
To-morrow would be too late!
No; he could not let love and happi
ness go down the stream without mak
ing an effort to hold them fast. Duty
ight go to the winds for once. He
ould go to the ball, where he might
see her that night. And as to the
Colonel? Surely he would not sport
his stately, antiquated presence in
such a giddy, uncongenial scene. And
if he did—Brereton might say what
Le pleased—the Colonel’s shortness of
sight was proverbial!
Alas! Venus with her wicked elf
Cupid had strangely bewitched this
misguided son of Mars, as there is evi
dence enough to prove they have be
witched many a stalwart hero in every
age aud clime!
* • « •
The bank, a great solid building of
dark grey stoue, stood in an inclosure.
At the rear qjas a court encircled by a
fence, in which was a small wicket
gate opening into a lane a short dis
tance below the main entrance, and
used chiefly for communication with
the back premises. At night it was
always kept locked. The front of the
building, on the other hand, faced one
of the principal thoroughfares, and
was approached through a massive-
outer gate, which, like the smaller
one, was carefully closed after night
fall.
Captain Kendall did not change his
mind. As the evening wore on, he
slipped out, merely informing the
sentinel that he should soon return.
The old soldier, wlie had known and
loved his young officer for some years,
shook his head ominously as he saw
him depart, but inwardly resolved to
keen his counsel if possible
The truant meauwliile sped on his
wilful way, and banishing all anxious
reflections, appeared in the ball-room
In time to secure the hand of his fair
charmer for several dances. Fortune
Beemed to smile propitiously on him,
and the coast was clear. The Colonel
was not to be seen, and no one else
cared to inquire too curiously what
offloer ought to be on guard at the
bank on that particular night. As he
led out the lady, the Bcapt-grace lover {
had the satisfaction of seeing his rival
turn away with a lowering brow. He
was determined to lose no time now.
In the maze of the waltz, while the
soft, undulating strains of Strauss
steeped the senses of the dancers in
sweet dreams of delight, under the
roseate light of the many wax candles
in that perfumed, crowded ball-room,
a question was asked, and an answer
tremulously whispered, which trans
ported two young people into a tem
porary paradise of their own creating,
where there were only they two, and
no room for any other besides. No
wonder that at such a moment all
minor sublunary considerations were
forgotten.
But when a brief ecstatic hour had
passed, ami they emerged once more
from the rosy pavilion whither they
had retreated among the flowers,
there loomed, dark and erect in the
pistant doorway of the adjoining ball
room, a tall martial figure, whose
gray head towered above the com
pany ; a vision which struck a sudden
chill to the ardent lover’s heart.
“By Jove!” he exclaimed with a
start. “There’s the Colonel!”
The sharp ejaculation breaking in
strangely upon the dulcet tones of
love, astonished the pretty creature
who hung on his arm.
“What of the Colonel ?’’ she asked
softly. “Why should he not he here,
poor man ?”
“Because I am here who ought to
be on guard in street, and because
I shall be cashiered to a certainty if
he sees me,” was the abrupt reply.
“Oh, do go away this minute. Do,
dear Harry !” she pleaded in terrified,
beseeching accents.
Hi looked at her, then around him,
irresolute for a moment. The Colonel
had turned his back and was moving
into another room. No, he could not
go just yet, the temptation to remain
was too strong.
“Leave you now, when we are happy
and are to be parted so soon ? No, I
cannot, darling,” he whispered fondly,
“But, never fear, we will keep out of
his way.”
She did not urge him any more. She
did not fully understand the magni
tude of the offence, nor the risk a in
volved, and was too glad to keep him
a little longer by all available means.
There were a number of reception
rooms in the locale where the ball
was held, all of which were thrown
open for the occasion. Keeping a cau
tious eye around them, the young peo
ple contrived to pass from one apart
ment to another, whenever they de
tected the dreaded form of the Colonel
approaching. After a time he settled
down quietly at a whist-table in the
distdtace, and they gave themselves up
with reckless gayety to the enjoyment
of the evening. Another hour passed,
and supper-time came, and still they
danced or lingered in quiet nooks,
and managed successfully to elude the
eyes whose recognition was so care
fully to be avoided.
“What a comfort it is that he is such
a maypole, and may be observed from
afar!” laughed the girl, who had
caught the infection of her lover’s
•audacity.
At length the dreaded time for part
ing was at hand. The early morning
train was to bear away the lady to her
father’s summer residence, aud thus
to separate for awhile the newly
plighted pair. What wonder, that in
those last few precious moments they
forgot all precautions, and saw and
heard nothing in each other’s all-en
grossing presence? He followed her
to the hall, and folded the shawl care
fully round her graoeful form; for
another happy minute yet he stood
with her hand locked in his, meeting
all her heart shining out through her
deep blue eyes. Then the carriage
door closed with a sharp bang, which
struck cold and heavy ou his ear, as
the rolling
the night.
Perhaps li
dazzled by
he had drui
other thingi
ently he ti
hat and d
leels bore her away into
eyes were somewhat
e bright parting glance
iu so eagerly, for all
round looked dim. Pres-
ned listlessly to take his
rt in his turn, still feeling
like one t]Ct dreams. Suddenly, how
ever, southing impeded him to look
up, aud^rhat was his dismay, when
he fouim himself face to face with—
the (’oHel!
Thei^ was a crowd of departing
guests|ln the hall, and as they gather
ed aud jostled each other, the two
men who had been thus unexpectedly
bought together were again borne
apart. The recognition was but in
stantaneous therefore, and in another
moment the junior offloer had con
trived to ^nlngle with and disap]
in the crowd. But by the stern, aston
ished gaze which had met his eye for
that brief instant, he knew that he
had been identified, aud that the Colo
nel fully remembertd where he ought
to have been.
If he still ventured to retain any
hope that the recognition had not been
complete, such hope was promptly
diepelled by the order, which presently
rang out in ominous tones from the
Colonel’s well-known voice of thun
der.
1 ‘Drive to the Royal Bank ins tantly! ’ ’
it said with awful distinctuess. “ Aud
go as fast as you can.”
Captain Kendal had managed to
slip unobserved turough the doorway,
and he now stood in the street.
What was to be done? The car
riages that were in waiting there were
all private ones. The hackney coaches
were far down the file, and even if he
he been lucky enough lo secure one in
time, the rattle of the wheels at that
dead hour of the night, speeding in
the same direction as the Colonel’s
carriage, or indeed the very fact of a
vehicle stopping before the bank,
would have convicted him at once.
There was not a moment to be lost.
At tills crisis fortunately his wits
did not forsake him. A sudden inspi
ration presented itself to his mind,
and his decision wr.’i taken in a twink
ling. Favored by the opportune dark
ness, lie crept round to the back of the
Colonel’s carriage, and just as it was
starting, he sprang up nimbly on the
step behind. The coachman whipped
up his horses and rattled his wheels
through the still streets of the sleeping
city, clearing the distance in double-
quick time, in order to forestall the
return of the delinquent offleer.
Neither master nor man guessed that
tbeir hot haste was bearing back the
truaDt to his post. Within the carriage
the Colonel sat,stiff and erect, as became
a worthy disciplinarian, wholly intent
on the conyiction of his peccant junior,
in whose impending discomfiture he
could not help feeling a grim and
righteous satisfaction. At the back
the Captain sat crouching on the step,
desperately concerting his measures.
“Impudence! stand my friend
through this scrape, be mentally ejac
ulated. Perhaps all is not lost yet.”
When the carriage turned into
street and the bank appeared in view,
he jumped lightly down and under
the friendly cover of night, ran to
the small wicket gate in the lane.
Most luckily he had taken the key
with him, and hurriedly letting him
self in, he passed swiftly through the
court, and came up with the sentinel
inside the great gate,while the car
riage was taking the longer curve
which led up to the front. How he
blessed the chance impulse which
had induced him to take that key !
“The Colonel’s there,” he said
breathlessly. “Don’t be too quick in
undoing the chain. Give me as long
as you can. And I say, Dickson,”
he added anxiously, “mum’s the
word, you know—if you can.”
“Ay! ay! sir,” muttered the old
sentinel as he shuffled slowly along.
He was very partial to the young
man, and not so much so to the Col
onel.
The Captain passed hurriedly with-
Just then the bell of the great gate
rang out a long, resounding peal.
Tne sentinel clanked the chain
noisily as he hooked and unhooked it,
fumbled the key in the lock, and
made such judicious delays as enabled
the offleer on guard to compose him
self in attendance at his post, before
the heavy doors turned on their
hinges to admit the Colonel.
“Where is Captain Kendall?’’ he
asked, as he alighted, in stentorian
tones which vibrated strangely
through the silence, with a sort of
angry expectant note of triumph.
“On guard, sir!” answered the sol
dier curtly.
“What!” oried the Colonel, in the
shrill^ft of accents. He was too utterly
taken aback to say another word.
The seutlnel adopting his usual stolid
demeanor, took no notice of his evi
dent astonishment. Captain Kendal
heard the inquiry from within, aud
came forward. Repressing any in
ward tremors he might feel, he re
solved to put a bold face ou the mat
ter.
“Here, sir; do you require me?”
he asked coolly.
The Colonel stared at him. His
face, with its expression of mingled
sternness and entire bewilderment,
would have been no mean study for a
painter.
He could hardly believe his eyes.
Keenly scrutinizing the younger man,
who did not quail before his gaze, he
said stiffly, after a pause of some sec
onds.
“I certainly thought, sir, I saw you
at the ball in D street just now l”
“Me, sir ?” replied the other auda
ciously. “Why, I am on guard, sir.”
“It is ?ery singular,” resumed the
C flonel, without relaxing his scrutiny
and slightly raising his voice. “I
could have sworn that 1 saw you
there!”
“Very singular indeed, sir,” retort
ed the delinquent, gaining boldness
from the very extremity of the strait
to which he found himself reduced,
“since a man can’t be in two places at
once, and you have found me here, a
case of mistaken identity perhaps,
sir.”
The two men stood still eyeing eaoh
other, one keenly eager to detect, the
other as eagerly seeking to avoid de
tection. The Colonel was completely
baffled. The man was there before
him—that was certain; but how, hav
ing left him, as he felt sure he had
done, among the guests at the ball, he
came to be there now, was inexplica
ble. Not having wings wherewith to
fly, how on earth had the fellow got
there ? Could he have been mistaken,
he wondered for a moment. But no,
he knew he had not.
He shifted the form of his Interroga
tion :
“Then you were not at the ball?”
he asked very pointedly.
The young offleer was worthy of
all condemnation for having lorsaken
the post of duty. But though he had
acted inexcusably, he was still a gen
tleman, and he would not pollute his
lips with a lie. He hesitated for a
reply; then parried the question with
another.
“How could I be at the ball when
you find me here, sir?” he asked.
Yes, how; that was the mystery,
the simple solution of which was the
furthest iu the world from presenting
itself to the Colonel’s brain. Ha
knew that it was quite impossible
for another carriage to have arrived
before his own. His coachman had
driven quickly enough to satisfy even
his impatience, and he could not
have failed to notice if another vehicle
had proceeded or followed his through
the deserted streets. He could not in
the least understand it.
Silent, but wholly unconvinced, he
sat down in the hall to think what it
might behoove him to say or do next.
While the junior offleer bustled about
in a restless fashion, setting refresh
ments before him, and awkwardly en
deavoring to turn the conversation
into another channel. The Colonel
answered at random, for his thoughts
were perplexing.
Mystified, and righteously set on
convicting the offender as he doubtless
was, he could not help, nevertheless,
feeling a perception of the comical
side of the question. He felt, too,
that however fully persuaded he
might be in his own mind of Captain
Kendal’s offence, it would perhaps
be a difficult matter to prove it. At
leugth he cleared his throat porten
tously, and returned to the charge:
“Look here, Captain Kendal,” he
said, in accents whioh somehow had
taken a milder sound from the bent
of his cogitations, “it is no use beating
about the bush; I could stake my
existence that I saw you at the ball.
But how you come to be here now is
another matter, and I don’t pretend to
understand how you managed it.
You had better make a clean breast
of it, and though it would be my duty
to take proceedings against you—yet
if you will explain, it is possible that
I may just for once, considering the
peculiar features of the case, be in
duced to take a lenient view of a very
grave misdemeanor, sir.”
Thus encouraged, the culprit, who
detected a kindly twinkle in the
usually stern gray eye which was
fixed upon him, made a full and free
confession of his fault, and of the
causes whioh led thereto.
The Colonel, though well advanced
in the vale of years, had not outlived
the memory of youthful hopes, and
was a kindly man, though a strict
disciplinarian. The young lady
whose fair Image had lured the lover
from his duty, was rather a favorite
with him, and considering, as he had
said, the peculiar features of the cas
he consented to overlook the offen
and inflicted no worse punish
on the delinquent than a repri
which was received in dutiful sil
aud with all due contrition,
months later the Colonel made
eloquent speech at the wedding of two
happy young people, on whioh occa
sion Captain Brereton acted as best
man. Then two sweet blue eyes
looked playfully into his, as the
pretty bride thanked him, iu a mys
terious whisper, for the solitary and
memorable occasion when he had
couse^ed to overlook an 1 oondone
signal breach of discipline.—
Bar.