more than ever, and that he was more than worthy of me. I wept the first genuine womanly tears I had shed for many a day, but they were tears of joy, of joy at the thought that I had such a lover as this, and that the day of our union was certainly not far distant.
The next morning I wrote him a note in my proper person, stating that I had arrived, and was coming to see him. On the receipt of this he was nearly wild with excitement, and it was as much as Dr. Benton could do to keep him in his bed. Burning with anxiety to see what the effect upon him of the letter would be, I followed hard after the bearer, and waiting until he would have a fair opportunity to master its contents, I passed by the door in such a manner that he could not fail to see me. So soon as he caught sight of me, he called out, in an exultant tone, "Lieutenant, come in. I want to talk to you;" and holding out the note, which I had written but a few moments before, towards me, he said, with the happiest smile I ever saw on a human face, "She has come,—she has come, and will be here soon; congratulate me, my friend."
An Agitating Occasion.
I was greatly agitated, not only at the sight of his extreme happiness, but because I felt that the dreaded hour was now come when I must reveal my secret to him. I loved him most fondly; and it was but yesterday that I had heard from his own lips assurances of his affection for me, the verity of which it was impossible for me to doubt ; and yet I dreaded whether his feelings towards me might not change when he heard my story. I felt that they ought not, and I did not believe that they would; but I had heard so many men, and good men too, speak harshly with regard to women undertaking to play the role that I had, that my very love gave encouragement to my fears lest Captain De Caulp when he learned I had been in the army ever since the outbreak of the war, and from before the date of our engagement, disguised as a man would regard my course with such disapproval that he would refuse to consider the motives which induced me to adopt the course I had taken.
The situation was, for me, painful beyond expression ; and although I felt that the secret must now be told, I scarcely knew how to tell it, or how to begin an even ordinary friendly conversation with him. The disclosure which I was about to
