aving dismissed the worthy couple to the theatre--but a couple of
streets distant--the Major retired with glass and decanter to his
room, drank his quantum, smoked two pipes of tobacco very leisurably,
and then, with a long sigh, drew up his chair to the table (which
Mrs. Basket had set out with writing materials) and penned, with many
pauses for consideration, the following letter; which, when the
reader has perused it, will sufficiently explain why our hero had
blushed a while ago under Mr. Basket's interrogatory.

"My dear Martha,--'Sweet,' says our premier poet, 'are the uses
of adversity.' The indignity (I will call it no less) to which
my fellow-townsmen by their folly, and Sir Felix by his perfidy,
have recently subjected me, is not without its compensations.
On the one hand it has disillusioned me; on the other it has
removed the scales from my eyes. It has, indeed, inspired me
with a disgust of public life; it has taught me to think more
meanly of mankind as a whole. But while weaning my ambitions--
perhaps too abruptly--from a wider sphere, it has directed me
upon a happiness which has--dare I say it?--awaited me all the
while beside the hearth.

"Let me avow, dear cousin, that when first this happy inspiration
seized me, I had much ado--you know my promptitude of old--to
refrain from seeking you at once and pressing my suit with that
ardour which the warmth of my purpose dictated. On second
thoughts, however, I decided to spare your emotions that sudden
assault, and to make my demand in writing--in military phrase,
to summon the garrison in form.

"Your tender consideration of my comfort over a period of years
induces me to believe that a stronger claim on that
consideration for the future may not be a matter of indifference
to you. In short, I have the honour to offer you my hand, with
every assurance of a lifelong fidelity and esteem. The station
I ask you to adorn will be a private one. I am here to consult
a lawyer how best I may release from the consequences of their
folly the unfortunate men who betrayed me. This done, I lay
down my chain of office and resign my commission. I will not
deny that there are wounds; I look to domestic felicity to
provide a balm for them. Hansombody, no doubt, will succeed me;
and on the whole I am satisfied that he w