III.

She thinks, as she sits in the glint o' the sun,
That her race is ended ere well begun,
And turns her luminous eyes aside
To one who asks her to be his bride—
Invisible to all but her,
Her friend, her lover, her worshipper;
Who stretches forth his kindly hand,
And saith what her heart can understand.

IV.

"Winifred! Winifred! be thou mine,
Many may woo thee, many may pine,
To win from thy lips the sweet caress,
But thou canst not give it, or answer 'yes.'
There is not one amid them all,
To whom if the prize of thyself should fall,
Who would not suffer more cruel pain
Than would ever spring from thy disdain.

V.

"Only to me canst thou be given
The bridegroom sent to thee from Heaven;
Come to me! Come! Thy dower shall be
The wealth of Immortality.
Eternal youth, perennial joy,
And love that never shall change or cloy;
All shall be thine the hour we wed,
Sweet Winifred! Be thou mine!" he said.

VI.

"Take me!" she answered, with faint low breath,
"I know thee well. Thy name is DEATH.
I've looked on thy merciful face too long
To think of thee as a pain or wrong.
I know thou'lt keep thy promise true,
And lead me life's dark portals through.
Up! up! on wings to the starry dome,
Up! up to Heaven! my bridal home."

VII.

He laid his hand on her trembling wrist,
Her beautiful, coy, cold lips he kiss'd,
And took her away from sister and brother,
From sorrowing sire and weeping mother;
From all she loved. With a smile she went,
Of peace and patience and sweet content.
'Twas but life's vesture laid in the sod,
'Twas life itself to the throne of God!

OUT WITH THE MILITIA.

THE worst of belonging to the militia is that
you have to do duty. The task of receiving
your commission is not very arduous, and may
be performed without much professional training.
It is flattering, too, to be informed by
that important piece of parchment that Her
Majesty relies upon your loyalty, courage, and
so forth; for as the royal lady has not the
pleasure of your acquaintance, she must, of course,
found her belief upon your reputation in
society, aided, perhaps, by the favourable opinion
expressed by the lord lieutenant of the county,
who is the immediate agent in the matter. It
is he, in fact, who signs the document, unless
you happen to be adjutant or quartermaster
(appointments made from the regulars), in
which case Her Majesty performs the office
herself. The process of paying the guinea,
demanded with remarkable punctuality by the
Clerk of Lieutenancy for the parchment in
question, may also be accomplished with
success; indeed, a cheerful alacrity usually
accompanies this part of the proceeding. Getting
your uniform, again, is not much of an
undertaking, other things being equal; and the
presentation at court, which should follow as soon
as may be, cannot be considered among the
difficulties of the profession. It is the duty of
the training which is the drawback.

You are reminded of this necessity in good
time. A month or more before the crisis, you
are officially informed, "Upon her Majesty's
Service," that the regiment will assemble on a
certain Monday just before the end of April
for four weeks' training; and the approach of
this, the season, has been marked for some
weeks previously by announcements in The
Gazette that Her Majesty has been graciously
pleased to accept certain resignations and to
make certain other appointments among the
officers. This is the time, in short, of a great
many changes in the personnel of the force,
where a long period of service is by no means
the rule.

I underwent the preliminary responsibilities
with a constancy worthy of a British officer, and
my experiences are, I dare say, much the same
as they would be in most regiments of the
service. Our head-quarters are not very far from
London, in a neighbourhood inhabited principally
by clerks and commercial men, and
whose houses and general arrangements are all
characteristic of quiet people with quiet
incomes, who disappear during the week, and
present an appearance of population to the
district only on Sundays. Even grown-up
women are scarce on week days, seeming
generally to keep within doors, leaving the
thoroughfares—which, by the way, are open
and pleasant enough—principally to young
girls and children.

We have permanent barracks, provided by
the county, upon what would be a very satisfactory
scale, but for some important deficiencies.
On one side of the large square are the
commandants' and officers' rooms, the armoury, and
store-rooms, the guard-room, and the cells for
prisoners. Opposite, are the magazine, and
a covered shed for the occasional accommodation
of the arms. The third side is occupied
by the quarters of the non-commissioned officers,
and the fourth side cannot be said to be occupied
at all; it is open, and the wall forms the
boundary of the back gardens of the adjacent
houses. The head-quarters' staff entertained
here all the year round consists of between
thirty and forty persons, including the adjutant,
quartermaster, and assistant-surgeon; the
principal surgeon lives elsewhere, and appears
only during training. The remainder of the
staff includes non-commissioned officers, bandsmen,
and buglers: the latter an important
element, as the regiment is light. There are
no quarters in the barracks for commissioned
officers, nor for the men. The officers of
the permanent staff have houses conveniently
close by, and the others take lodgings in