"What! after you had shut the window?" and Biddy looked a note of interrogation in each eye.
"Oh—I—I saw him through the curtains."
"Ah!" was Tibby's echo. "And—well, I couldn't imagine who it could be for."
"Who what was for?" inquired Miss B.
"A letter."
"A letter!" and Lauretta's voice fluttered.
"Yes," said Tibby; "but, knowing how much you hated the men, I never thought of you." Saying which, the old woman fumbled in her pocket, and, taking a three-cornered note from a whole phalanx of others, read the inscription,—"To Laura."
"People will call me Laura," said Lauretta, as she seized upon the note, broke the seal, and read as follows:—"Sweet Laura,—When I saw you at the window, and kissed my hand,"—twice, Mrs. Tibs,—"need I say how I wished your rosy lips were near me; but, before many hours, I trust I shall whisper in your ear the love I feel for my pretty little angel." Lauretta held her breath till she was red in the face in a vain endeavour to look celestial. The letter continued:—"And if my sweet Laura will meet me on the 'Mount,' this evening, I will fly with her from the misery she now suffers, to love and happiness. Should you not be there, I shall return to the barracks, and put an immediate end to the existence of your devoted,
"Augustus Green Horn, Royal Rifle Corps."