ter's companion, that he
now resolutely rebelled against all attempts to persuade him to remain
in the village; and Mildred, at last, upon the pledge of the sergeant to
keep the cadet under his own eye, reluctantly yielded to a demand which
she found it almost impossible to resist.

These matters being settled, it was not long before Mildred and Mary
Musgrove, seated at the window of the house which had been selected as
their present abode, saw the long array of the army glide by at a brisk
pace, and watched the careless and laughing faces of the soldiers, as
they filed off through the only street in the village, and took the high
road leading south.

The troops had been gone for several hours, and Allen Musgrove and the
few soldiers who had been left behind, had scattered themselves over the
village, to get rid of the tedium of idleness in the gossip of the scant
population which the place afforded. Mildred had retired to a chamber,
and Mary loitered from place to place like one disturbed with care. All
the party felt that deep sense of loneliness which is so acutely
perceptible to those who suddenly change a life of toil and incident for
one of rest, while events of busy interest are in expectation.

"They are gone, ma'am," said Mary, as she now crept into Mildred's
presence, after having travelled over nearly the whole village, in the
state of disquietude I have described; "they are gone at least twenty
miles, I should think, by this time; and I never would have believed
that I could have cared so much about people I never saw before. But we
are so lonesome, ma'am. And young Mister Henry Lindsay, I should say,
must be getting tired by this time of day. As for the matter of that,
people may get tireder by standing still than by going on."

"How far do they march to-day?" inquired Mildred; "have you heard your
father say, Mary?"

"I heard him and the troopers who are here allow," replied the maiden,
"that Colonel Campbell wouldn't reach Colonel Williams before to-morrow
afternoon. They said it was good fifty miles' travel. They look like
brave men--them that marched this morning, ma'am; for they went out with
good heart. The Lord send that through Him they may be the means of
deliverance to Major Butler!"

At the mention of this name, Mildred covered her face with her hands,
and the tears trickled through her fingers. "The Lord send it!" she
repeated, after a moment's pause. "May He, in his mercy, come to our
ai