m is dreadfully insecure."

"Oh! I would never _seriously_ advise a friend of mine to marry a regular
soldier. Hector dear, to be left a widow must be terrible! . . . But you
_did_ deserve to be teased, for never saying a word about my tea-party.
How do you think it went off? And haven't you a syllable of praise for
the way I had polished the best urn? Why, you might have seen your face
in it!"

"So I might, my love, no doubt: but my eyes were occupied in following
_you_."

Yes, the day had been a wonderful success, as Captain Pond remarked after
waving good-bye to his visitor and watching his chaise out of sight upon
the Plymouth road. The Colonel's manner had been so affable, his
appreciation of Looe and its scenery and objects of interest so
whole-hearted, he had played his part in the day's entertainment with so
unmistakable a zest!

"We are lucky," said Captain Pond. "Suppose, now, he had turned out to be
some cross-grained martinet . . . the type is not unknown in the regular
forces."

"He was intelligent, too," chimed in the Doctor,--"unlike some soldiers I
have met whose horizon has been bounded by the walls of their
barrack-square. Did you observe the interest he took in my account of our
Giant's Hedge? He fully agreed with me that it must be pre-Roman, and
allowed there was much to be said for the theory which ascribes it to the
Druids."

Alas for these premature congratulations! They were to be rudely
shattered within forty-eight hours, and by a letter addressed to Captain
Pond in Colonel Taubmann's handwriting:--

"Dear Sir,--The warmth of my reception on Tuesday and the hospitality
of the good people of Looe--a hospitality which, pray be assured, I
shall number amongst my most pleasant recollections--constrain me to
write these few friendly words covering the official letter you will
receive by this or the next post. In the hurry of leave-taking I had
no time to discuss with you certain shortcomings which I was
compelled to note in the gunnery of the E. and W. Looe Volunteer
Artillery, or to suggest a means of remedy. But, to be brief, I
think a fortnight's or three weeks' continuous practice _away from
all local distractions_, and in a battery better situated than your
own for the requirements of effective coast-defence, will give your
company that experience for which mere enthusiasm, however admirable
in itself, can neve