that he is as good a
_subject_: I fear he leans to the side of the colonies."

"Heaven be praised!" exclaimed Beulah--"Oh! that his son would incline
in the same direction."

"Nay, Beulah," rejoined Maud, reproachfully; "you speak without
reflection. Mamma bitterly regrets that papa sees things in the light
he does. _She_ thinks the parliament right, and the colonies
wrong."

"What a thing is a civil war!" ejaculated the major--"Here is husband
divided against wife--son against father--brother against sister. I
could almost wish I were dead, ere I had lived to see this!"

"Nay, Robert, it is not so bad as that, either," added Maud. "My mother
will never oppose my father's will or judgment. Good wives, you know,
never do _that_. She will only pray that he may decide right, and
in a way that his children will never have cause to regret. As for me,
I count for nothing, of course."

"And Beulah, Maud; is she nothing, too? Here will Beulah be praying for
her brother's defeat, throughout this war. It has been some
presentiment of this difference of opinion that has probably induced
you to forget me, while Beulah and my mother were passing so many hours
to fill that basket."

"Perhaps you do Maud injustice, Robert," said Beulah, smiling. "I think
I can say none loves you better than our dear sister--or no one has
thought of you more, in your absence."

"Why, then, does the basket contain no proof of this remembrance--not
even a chain of hair--a purse, or a ring--nothing, in short, to show
that I have not been forgotten, when away."

"Even if this be so," said Maud, with spirit, "in what am I worse than
yourself. What proof is there that you have remembered _us?_"

"This," answered the major, laying before his sisters two small
packages, each marked with the name of its proper owner. "My mother has
her's, too, and my father has not been forgotten."

Beulah's exclamations proved how much she was gratified with her
presents; principally trinkets and jewelry, suited to her years and
station. First kissing the major, she declared her mother must see what
she had received, before she retired for the night, and hurried from
the room. That Maud was not less pleased, was apparent by her glowing
cheeks and tearful eyes; though, for a wonder, she was far more
restrained in the expression of her feelings. After examining the
different articles, with pleasure, for a minute or two, she went, with
a quick impetuous movement, to