will undertake the active duty of providing
conversation and amusement; he whose nature it is to lead, wants some
one who will follow; and the doubting man welcomes as a strong ally,
him who will decide for him. As Dogberry says, "when two men ride on a
horse, one must ride behind," and the social, compliant and admiring
temper of Mrs. Shortridge fitted in so well with the animated,
impulsive, and vigorous spirit of Lady Mabel, that something very like
friendship grew up between them.

Lady Mabel's habits now underwent a change, which proved that her late
mode of life, and her morning and evening _levees_ of epaulettes, had
been quite as much the result of necessity as of choice. Her father's
house was still much frequented by her gay and dashing comrades. But
whenever there was a large company to dinner, or any other cause
brought many of the gentlemen to head-quarters, she made a point of
having Mrs. Shortridge at hand to countenance and sustain her; and in
return she would often mount her horse early and canter into Elvas,
followed only by a groom, to shut herself up with Mrs. Shortridge for
a whole morning, doubtless in the enjoyment of those confidential
feminine chats, for which she had longed so much. On these occasions
the representatives of the ruder sex seldom gained admittance, except
that L'Isle would now and then drop in for an hour, he being too great
a favorite with Mrs. Shortridge to be excluded; and, for a time, he
showed no disposition to abuse his special privilege.

It was on one of these occasions that L'Isle discovered that with all
his assiduity in acquiring a thorough knowledge of the peculiar and
interesting land in which he had now spent more than four years--an
assiduity, on the result of which he much prided himself, and which
had done him good service in his profession--there was still one
important point that he had quite overlooked. He knew absolutely
nothing of the botany of this region, nor, indeed, of any other. He
made this discovery suddenly on hearing Lady Mabel express the
interest she felt in this science, and her hope of finding many
opportunities of pursuing it in a country whose Flora was so new to
her. He at once began to supply this omission by borrowing from her
half a dozen books on the subject. In two or three days he reappeared,
armed with a huge bunch of wild flowers and plants, and professed to
have mastered the technicalities sufficiently to enter at once on the
pract