to feel that General Harero was particularly regarding him, and he strove to be less thoughtful of Isabella, and if possible, more observant of his regular duty.  It is the duty of the officer of the night for the occasion, to fill the post during the performance, where the young officer now stood, as it commanded a view of the entire house, and was the point, where, by an order from him, he could at once summon a much larger force under arms than that which under ordinary circumstances was required.  Each division of the guard was set from this point, therefore Captain Bezan, as was his custom, remained here during the performance.

“It must be very tedious to stay thus standing just there,” remarked Ruez, pointing to Captain Bezan, and speaking to Isabella.

“I should think so,” was the reply of his sister, who had often turned that way, to the no small annoyance of the observant General Harero.

“A soldier’s duty,” replied the general, “should content him with his post.”

It was nearly the middle of the evening’s entertainment, when turning his eyes towards the box occupied by Don Gonzales and his party, Captain Bezan caught the eye of Isabella Gonzales, and at the same time observed distinctly the peculiar wave of the fan, with which a Spanish lady invites in a friendly manner the approach of a friend of the opposite sex.  He could not be mistaken, and yet was it possible that the belle of all that proud assemblage deigned openly to notice and compliment him thus in public?  Impelled by the ardor of his love, and the hope that he had rightly construed the signal, he approached the box from the rear, and stepping to its back, gave some indication to one of his orderlies sufficiently loud in tone to cause Isabella and her father to turn their heads, as they at once recognized the voice of the young officer.

“Ah!  Captain Bezan,” said Don Gonzales, heartily, as he caught the young officer’s eye, “glad to see you once more with epaulets on-upon my soul I am.”

“Thank you, sir,” said the soldier, first saluting in due form his superior, and then bowing low and gracefully to Isabella Gonzales, who honored him with a gracious smile.

“You are looking comparatively well, captain,” said Don Gonzales, kindly.

“O yes, sir, I am as well as ever, now,” replied the officer, cheerfully.

Ruez Gonzales loved Lorenzo Bezan like a brother; first, because he had so materially served him at imminent peril of his own life, and secondly, because he saw in him just such traits of character as attracted his young heart, and aroused it to a spirit of emulation.  With the privilege of boyhood, therefore, he sprang over the seats, half upsetting General Harero to get at the young officer’s side, which, having accomplished, he seized his hand familiarly.  General Harero frowned at this familiarity, and his face grew doubly dark and frowning, as he saw now how closely Isabella was observing the young officer all the while.