are calculated to make mischief. Her father is wealthy and beyond doubt of good family. I am not sufficiently acquainted to hazard an introduction." This was Noah's dearest wish, and he felt no little disappointment when he learned that it could not be gratified; but he said no more to his friend. on the subject. An event happened a few weeks later which brought about what Noah desired. Mrs. Wilberforce of Williamsburg gave a social party at her elegant home, to which there were invited all the best people of the village and surrounding country Social events like this were quite common, even in the early days of Virginia, and Mrs. Wilberforce took the lead in society. Her house was one of the most elegant in Virginia, and, on the evening in question, the spacious parlors and drawing-rooms were all aglow with light. Negro servants in livery were hastening hither and thither making everything ready. In the long dining-room were great tables groaning with good things. From out the casement on the wintry air floated the softest strains of music. The night was clear and cold. The snow lay on the ground with a crust frozen on the top. Sleighs loaded with merry people were driven to the Wilberforce mansion, and a constant stream of gayly dressed gentlemen and ladies were entering. An assembly of gentlemen and ladies in the old colonial days, before the decay of the picturesque, was a grand sight. It was in the age of periwigs, velvet coats, ruffled shirts, knee breeches and gaiters. It was an age when the coats were of any color one might choose, and there appeared under the lamplight or fluttered in the evening breeze all the varied colors and hues of the kaleidoscope. Negro slaves were kept busy heaping on great logs of wood, and roaring fires made the rooms comfortable. Outside, the night air was cold, and from a hundred chimneys the soft blue smoke floated away in the darkness. Noah Stevens was an invited guest at Mrs. Wilberforce's ball, and when the evening came he found himself one of the many happy guests of the fashionable lady. It was during the first waltz, that he chanced to cast his eyes into another apartment and met a pair of dark, gazelle-like eyes, which quickened the blood in his veins and caused him to start. Noah finished the waltz, and then Mrs. Wilberforce went to him with Miss Saturfield on her arm, to introduce him to the shy young maiden whom he had seen in the sleigh. To say Noah was delighted would be stating the matter mildly. Half an hour later, he found himself with Miss Saturfield in an alcove talking on such subjects as usually engross the minds of young people. The music and dancers were unheeded. "You have not been long in Virginia, have you Miss Saturfield?" "Only a few months." "You came from England?" "I did." "I was in England once-went to enter Oxford, but came back to help found the colony of Georgia. It could not be that I ever met you there. you live in London?" "Yes; but I was quite small then.” 66 Did Strange, when I talk with you, I seem sure that I have met you before. 66 Her soft brown eyes were on the carpeted floor, and her fingers played with the lace of her dress. Zounds! she is strange but lovely," thought Noah Stevens. "Have you relatives in England?" "I presume I have; but I do not know them." Then, as if to change the subject, she remarked, "Mrs. Wilberforce is lovely to-night. Her costume is so becoming." "Very; she is an agreeable lady, and loved by all who know her." At this moment, a negro servant came hurrying toward Noah Stevens and said: 'Beg pardon, Massa Stevens, but dar am a boy heah to see ye." "A boy?" "Yes, massa. Capen Washington sent um." "Excuse me, Miss Saturfield; this may be important," said Noah, rising. He hurried to the sitting-room, where a lad of fourteen or fifteen years of age, with a blue cloak swung back over his left shoulder, stood before the fire. He wore a three-cornered hat with blue coat and leggings somewhat worn. His face was tanned by exposure to the wind and weather. He had a riding whip in his right hand, while he spread his left out over the glowing fire. George-George Washington!" cried Noah, on seeing the lad. "Have you a message for me?" Yes sir; brother Lawrence wants you." "Where?" "He is assembling the militia on the upper Potomac.' "The Indians have committed some depredations on the frontier, and are advancing on the settlements along the Rappahannock." "This is alarming. I will excuse myself and go at once." "I am to go too," said the lad, his cheeks glowing with pride. "I can ride a horse as well as a man and fire a rifle, too.” George Washington, who had early imbibed a desire for military life, was overjoyed at the thought that he was going to be one of the campaigning party. Noah went to the ball-room to excuse himself to not tell her the cause of his to the new beauty "I hope it is nothing serious," she said, when informed that he must go at once. "Not serious, but urgent. I cannot express my pleasure at this brief acquaintance, and I hope it may be renewed." |