On one of these visits, Captain Prescott took, as his companion, a young Lieutenant named Canfield.  It so happened that this visit lasted several days, and a period of greater happiness to the young Lieutenant probably never occurred.  Mary Prescott, at that time, could not properly be called a woman, except in the grace and dignity of her character.  She inherited the rich fancy, the nervous sensibility, and stern will of her father, and what may seem like a contradiction, the gentleness and modesty of her mother.  She was the youngest child, and, naturally enough, the pet of the others; but, the parents were too sensible to spoil her by flattery or foolish indulgence.  She was of that age when the female mind is most susceptible to the great passion of our nature in its most romantic phase, when Lieutenant Canfield visited their house.  His frank bearing, his gentlemanly deportment, and, above all, the favorable reports which her father gave of his gallant conduct, conspired to enlist young Mary in his favor.

[Illustration:  Mary Prescott.]

They were scarcely thrown into each other’s society before the natural, though sometimes tardy, results of the virtues we have mentioned were seen.  The tell-tale blush—­the voice unconsciously lowered to the most thrilling softness—­the timid glance—­the deep-drawn sigh—­the absent, vacant appearance when separated for a short time from each other—­the supreme happiness when together—­all were signs which escaped not the eyes of the sister and mother, although the matter-of-fact father failed to notice such trifles.  His days of courtship had become a fable, if they were not forgotten.

If there were any displeasure at this state of affairs upon the part of her mother, it was only because she believed her daughter too young to entertain thoughts of marriage.  Like a wise and prudent parent, however, she did not seek to accomplish an impossibility—­that of preventing what no parent yet succeeded in preventing.  Having great confidence in the young Lieutenant, from the representations of her husband, she merely resolved to be discreet with him.  Accordingly, when, on the day of his departure, he found courage to mention his love of Mary to her parents, the mother took it upon her to reply that she entertained no objection to his suit, but, from the youth of her daughter, he must not expect their consent to a union for several years.  At the same time she gracefully hinted that the suddenness of his passion might well excite suspicion that it was hardly genuine.  Delighted beyond measure at this answer, Lieutenant Canfield added that he would not claim her hand until both father and mother were fully satisfied, and until he had proven to them that he was worthy of their daughter.  Thus matters stood when Captain Prescott and the Lieutenant took their departure.

Matters were somehow or other so arranged that the Lieutenant found opportunity to visit the family of Captain Prescott oftener than the Captain himself.  On these occasions, the mother was pleased to observe that while the attachment between him and her daughter became more and more marked, the Lieutenant always manifested the most scrupulous respect for the wishes of her parents, and never breathed a word to her that he believed could occasion the slightest objection upon their part.