this instance, at least, there was general complaint.  Mr. Blake said it reminded him of his early boyhood, when they used to take him to the great toy-stores at Christmas:  “Look all you like, long for it as much as you please, but don’t touch.”  Merton and Royce, of the cavalry, said it was simply a challenge to any better fellow to cut in and cut out the Knickerbocker; and, to do them justice, they did their best to carry out their theory.  Both they and their comrades of the Riflers were assiduous in their attentions to Miss Travers, and other ladies, less favored, made acrimonious comment in consequence.  A maiden sister of one of the veteran captains in the ——­th, a damsel whose stern asceticism of character was reflected in her features and grimly illustrated in her dress, was moved to censure of her more attractive neighbor.  “If I had given my heart to a gentleman,” said she, and her manner was indicative of the long struggle which such a bestowal would cost both him and her, “nothing on earth would induce me to accept attentions from any one else, not if he were millions of miles away.”

But Nellie Travers was “accepting attentions” with laughing grace and enjoying the society of these young fellows immensely.  The house would have been gloomy without her and “the boys,” Rayner was prompt to admit, for he was ill at ease and sorely worried, while his inflammable Kate was fuming over the situation of her husband’s affairs.  Under ordinary circumstances she would have seen very little to object to so long as Nellie showed no preference for any one of her admirers at Warrener, and unless peevish or perturbed in spirit would have made little allusion to it.  As matters stood, however, she was in a most querulous and excitable mood:  she could not rail at the real cause of her misery, and so, woman-like, she was thankful for a pretext for uncorking the vials of her wrath on somebody or something else.  If the young matrons in garrison who, with the two or three visiting maidens, were disposed to rebel at Miss Nell’s apparent absorption of all the available cavaliers at the post, and call her a too lucky girl, could but have heard Mrs. Rayner’s nightly tirades and hourly rebukes, they might have realized that here, as elsewhere, the rose had its stinging thorns.  As for Miss Travers, she confounded her sister by taking it all very submissively and attempting no defence.  Possibly conscience was telling her that she deserved more than she was getting, or than she would be likely to get until her sister heard of the adventure with Mr. Hayne.

“By the way,” said Mr. Royce one evening as they were stamping off the snow and removing their heavy wraps in Rayner’s hall-way after a series of garrison calls, “Mrs. Waldron says she expects you to play for her to-morrow afternoon, Miss Travers.  Of course it will be my luck to be at stables.”

“You hear better music every afternoon than I can give you, Mr. Royce.”