her lovely indignation? Nay, he swore it, he was pained for her as deeply as ever she was for her father. But the word "avenge" he resented sternly.
"Madam, I say again, I am not the law. I am merely the puppet who obeys it."
"Must he obey it then?" Madam tapped a satin shoe quite loud upon the hearth-tiles.
"I hold a commission; I am but a puppet," groaned the Captain, with cheeks of the colour of the damask at his side.
"A puppet!" She rose a queen, and cast the phrase upon him. "A puppet! Then, sir," demanded she, "do you suppose I can afford to lavish my precious hours upon a puppet?"
An excellent tactician, she swept from the room, offended and imperious, without condescending to receive his tremulous reply. In her wisdom she knew this to be the proper moment to withdraw. The Captain had been carried by easy stages to a sufficient harmony of heart. This final discord must jangle in his finest nerves for many hours, set his teeth on edge, and keep him fretful. The lady calculated that he would not shut his eyes that night. He had been given a sight of happiness, that he might know how much he stood to lose.
My train was laid then. Let a spark fall from my eyes to-morrow, and I did not doubt it, it would blow his duty to the devil. One learns to read the symptoms that precede explosion. Leaving the Captain I tripped to the card-players on my lightest toe. My heart accorded with my step. The trio
