later he returned smiling, with the news that a brother officer had
volunteered to take his detail, and that he had obtained a honeymoon leave
of absence for thirty days.

"Barclay is a trump," he said. "It is all the prettier in him to go that
he has a wife of his own. The commandant made no objection to the
exchange. In fact the old fellow behaved like a father to me, shook hands,
patted me on the shoulder, congratulated me, and all that sort of thing.
Old boy, married himself, and very fond of his family. Upon my word, it
seems to better a man's heart to marry him."

"Of course it does," chimed in Clara. "He is so much happier that of
course he is better."

"Well, my little princess, where shall we go?"

"Go first to see Aunt Maria. There! don't make a face. She is very good in
the long run. She will be sweet enough to you in three days."

"Of course I will go. Where is she?"

"Boarding at a hacienda a few miles from town. We can take horses, canter
out there, and pass the night."

She was full of spirits; laughed and chattered all the way; laughed at
everything that was said; chattered like a pleased child. Of course she
was thinking of the surprise that she would give him, and how she had
circumvented his sense of honor about marrying a rich girl, and how hard
and fast she had him. Moreover the contrast between her joyous present and
her anxious past was alone enough to make her run over with gayety. All
her troubles had vanished in a pack; she had gone at one bound from
purgatory to paradise.

At the hacienda Thurstane was a little struck by the respect with which
the servants received Clara; but as she signed to them to be silent, not a
word was uttered which could give him a suspicion of the situation. Mrs.
Stanley, moreover, was taking a siesta, and so there was another tell-tale
mouth shut.

"Nobody seems to be at home," said Clara, bursting into a merry laugh over
her trick as they entered the house. "Where can the master and mistress
be?"

They were now in a large and handsomely furnished room, which was the
parlor of the hacienda.

"Don't sit down," cried Clara, her eyes sparkling with joy. "Stand just
there as you are. Let me look at you a moment. Wait till I tell you
something."

She fronted him for a few seconds, watching his wondering face,
hesitating, blushing, and laughing. Suddenly she bounded forward, threw
her arms around his shoulders and cried excitedly, hysterically, "My love!
my