"Is Mrs. E. in?" inquired he.
"She is," replied Emma; "please step in, Sir."
"Good evening, Mrs. E.," was his salutation to that lady. She replied, and rising and meeting him they shook hands warmly.
He remarked, apologetically, "It is a late hour to call, but I know you will excuse me, Madam. I am stopping at the hotel in town, and just came to know if you were ready to begin the pleasant journey in the morning," at the same time glancing at Lew and Emma, to see if they appeared to comprehend the situation.
"We are ready, I thank you, Lieutenant, and only wait 'further orders,' having just this moment, before you came, strapped our trunks."
The Lieutenant looked surprised at the plural, "we are ready," and gave another glance at the brother and sister, and then at the two big trunks, and had parted his lips to speak, when Mrs. E. interrupted him with, "Yes, we are ready—these, my darling friends, my children almost, are going with me to be my companions in exile; and we are going in our own conveyance, and have just one vacant seat for you, Lieutenant, and we all cordially invite you to occupy it, and travel with us. And whatever military cavalcade is to accompany us, let them travel by themselves and be our John Baptist. What say you, Sir, to this?"
"Well now, really, Mrs. E., this is quite unexpected, and as I can have no objection, certainly, to the surprise plan, for which you alone are responsible, I can not refuse your kind invitation to make one of the number of so pleasant a traveling quartette. So being ready, I respectfully suggest the hour of eight in the morning as the time for starting. My requisition on the Commander of the post here, for six men and two four-mule teams and ambulances with drivers, has been filled, but it can remain so, and I will order them out an hour ahead of us, and we four will leave together, in a quiet way, not exciting public curiosity. And now, good-night all, I will be here at eight, sharp."
"What do you think of him, Miss Emma, and how will we be likely to fare in his charge?" said Mrs. E. after he had gone.
"What do I think of him? you ask. To speak, frankly, I think he is a nice gentleman, and will do to travel with, either with or without a military escort. I feel assured in his presence."
"It is indeed a painful thought to be driven, forced from one's home and country, even as a penalty for real crime, but when for an accident, a misfortune, which points to no criminal intent, it is a grief, unassuaged by aught save a conscious innocence. Though in my case, so far, a halo of real romance seems to gather around to shed its sweet sadness o'er my heart, to lighten the burden that presses it. Indeed it feels like the tender hand of the All-wise Father, caressing my troubled spirit into quiet and confident repose. Indeed, I almost feel thankful for the rod; and to bless the hand that holds and applies it. In a word, to speak directly, the trip we are about to make seems in its circumstances more like a pleasure trip than going into exile. But let us to repose; it is eleven o'clock, and we must rise early."