by selection among a number of applicants."

"I didn't want to be told that," snapped Miss Gabriel. "What I meant
was, the Commander-in-Chief probably knew something of the man--had
informed himself of something in his record--before sending him down to
this exile."

"And a jolly good exile, too!" put in Mr. Rogers, heartily.

"It used to be," said Miss Gabriel. "This Colonel Bartlemy, for
instance, was a coward. I've heard it told of him that once, during his
command, a sort of mutiny broke out in the Barracks. It happened at a
time when the newspapers were full of nonsense about France invading us
by a sudden descent; and the noise, reaching him in the quarters where
he lodged with his wife and one general maid-servant, put him in a
terrible fright. He had fenced off these quarters of his for privacy,
because Mrs. Bartlemy thought it would be a good deal better for the
maid-servant; and they communicated with the Barracks by a staircase
with a door of which he kept the key. On the first alarm he ran to this
door and called through the key-hole for his orderly; but the orderly,
who himself was taking part in the disturbance, did not hear. So the
Colonel called up his wife and the servant, and joined them at the head
of the stairs after he had slipped on his belt and sword. By this time
the noise below was deafening. The Colonel, putting a brave face on it,
managed to get the key into the lock and turn it. Then, as he flung the
door open, he turned with a bow to his wife and said very politely, in
French--for they were in the habit of talking French before the
girl--'_Passez devant, madame!_'"

"How did it end?" asked Mr. Rogers, after a guffaw.

"Oh, it turned out to be just a barrack brawl. The soldiers were always
the worst-behaved lot in the Islands, and perpetually grumbling--though
in those days," added Miss Gabriel, "I always understood that they were
fed and clothed sufficiently."

The Commandant whitened. Mrs. Fossell, a nervous body in a cap with
lilac ribbon, rose in some little fluster, and opined that it was
almost time to cut for partners.

A few minutes later the Commandant found himself seated opposite Mr.
Fossell, with Miss Gabriel and Mr. Rogers for opponents--Miss Gabriel
on his left. He prepared to enjoy himself, for whist meant silence, and
he could have chosen no better partner than Mr. Fossell, who played a
sound game, and with a perfectly inscrutable face.

"Dear me!" said Miss Gabriel,