Friend And Foe

It was in war times, down soutli, and Heten Reaner, a young jrlrl of fourteen years, instead of belng at boardlng-school, studying her lessona and learning to paint and dance and speak Frcnch and do fancy-work, as would have bren the case in timo of pcace, was busy working for the soldierB-f-knltting socks, and niaking ilannel shirts and piekiug lint. There was work for brain and heart as well as hands, for Helen was the only chlld of her parents. Moreover, her mother was timid and delira ie, and the anxiety she endured on account of her husband, who was away in the iiraiy, made her more helplesü and dependent than ever. Fortúnate? ly Helen was an energetlc, seli-relient Chlld, and when her father went, she did her utmost to take her place, and to be a support and comfort to her mother. Helen was a partisan by nature; ghe had been so from the time of her lnlancy, when abe would takc the part of her old black Mammy ngainst the world- not becauae Mammy was alwaya right, imi Wvause she loved Mammy, and her feeungs alwa.vs had much more u do with her conduct than her reason. Now, thoujih sUc eould have glven no special explanation of the fan. Bhe ealled heieli a rebel, out and out, and hated the Yankees aceordlngly. One day- it was towaid the end oí that long struggle when so much preclous blood had been sheil both north and south, and Helen and Mis. Reaner had gone through jnany bitter trials and privationa that had almost cruslied the fragile litfle, mother. while it made the Oaughter every ilay more spiiited and defiant omot'lilTIg uccurred which Helen had long been looking íor- a veritablc ex eitemeut. Helen had srown very weary of monotony. and had begun to chafe under the seelusion of lier lot, and lu long for the active hospital service and the dnngerous -vicissitudes so well known to thé women whose homes were nearer the BCene, ai action. She positively pined for a shaiv in this service and tWs dan-er. She was not forgetful of her poor Httle mother, and she longed to have her spared; but for herseU she wanted the danger, the fire a ml the sword. On this particular day Helen was walking slow-ly mwanl the house, deep In thought, when. uu turning su.idenly. a sigln met her eyes that made her heart Kap within lier, and her cheeks turn white. Just ahead öl her. standing near the dilapidaied and empty old barn. which nu mie thought Of rcpleiiishing. were three men on horseback. dressed in the uniform of Union soldiers. One of them. an otïicer. stepped forward on seeing her approach, and taking off his eap. said, with a nianner of the utmost eourtesy: "We have been riding hard all day and are very tired. Could I ask the favor of some supper for these two men and myself, and a nitiht's lodging for our horses and ourselvcs ? We could all be accommodated in the barn for the night, and I will ])iiy for what we get." We are quite alone and improtected, my mother alud myself." said Helen with grèrft dlgrüty, "my father being away in the ariny. can giVe vhai orders you Choose tu the servants, and fchey vriU be. carried out as far as our nbility extends. My mother is an invalid. and I should lilie her not to be disturbed. Imt of cour.se we are in your power, and you eau do what you like." Helen delivcred hersell of this speech with much gllbness, ,-i faet largely due to hér havihg tr$quèntly rèheaïsed it beíorehand. witii a view to this precise contingeney. Poor rhild! If she had known how funny she looked, and how strangely her costume eontrasted with lier regal bearhur, she could hardly llave carried it out so well. She was dressed in homespun, made by the négroéa opon the place, and colored with domestic dyes that taded into a nebulous vasïueness the first time the fabric was washed; and even this dxesa was greatly the worse for wear, for Helen'S heroisni rejoifed in worn garmeata and inade(juacies of all kinds, Ihal the best might go to the soldiers. Her slim little feet were cased in rusty brogan shoes, tled with leather thongs, and coarse knitted Btocklngs. She had no thought of that. however, as she deliv. red her pri oratlon, thougü perhaps it was some sénse of it tliat cause, 1 a lurking smile to play around the bearded Ups of the young oflicer. He answered her, however, very gra vely: "Your mother shall not be disturbed in any way, I assure you. and I would prefer not to speak to your .mts, ir you will be kind enougb to give the necessary orders for our i ntertainment. We will be in your way as little as possible. May I order my men to put the horses in the barn ?" Helen consented with a stately bend of the head, and turned toward the house. Her pace quickened as Bhe neared it, and when ehe found her mother and related what had happened, the animation and exeitement that she liad been keeping under hegan to show itself. "I'm not at all afraiil of them, mamma," she said. "1 was certain I would not be. We will have to teil the servanfs tO gel Iheni soinethin. to eat; I don't know what. Our usual fare is good enougfa for them certainly, and they'U have to sup on corn pone and rye coffee Bweetened witii Borghum. 1 hope wou won't think of trying to do more. "Gracious, how it made my blood boil to see that uniform! And the wretch had the impudence to try t bc very polite! 1 even thought ha seemed to pity me wkm 1 aüuded to your sickness and our destitute state. That is one thing 1 cannot and vrill not stand- to be pitied by a Yankee! "Mamma, I do beg of you, don't be humble to hiiu, if he comes wbere you are. I see no reason why you sec liira at all. We can send them their food to the barn. Xo, mamma, 111 teil you what we'll do. They tliink we are poor and starved and ragged and deetitute, and we'll let them see they are wrong." "Bilt, my child, if they are right- " "Listen to me, mamma. This is what we wlD do. We'll set the teatablf - for one of course, as the other two are conunon soldicrs. and we could not cat with them,- and wu'U get out our best china and linen- such as has not been used for lint, - and Aunt Tama shall kill a chicken, if there's one left to kill, and we'll use that bit of coflee and sugar we've been koeping as a curiosity. "I can find somc eggs for muffins, whieh'will le almost as nicfl as wheal bread, and we can eet somc fruit to fill up, and have a suinptuoiis mcal iii.it wlll make this iollow open lus cycs. "Thcn you must put on your gray silk, which ia all you have lefi of your prettj cloihcs, and 1 will wear my blue, and be sliall see whcthcr we lookcd Btarved and ragged!" ToD tmpatient to wait for a rcply. Helen hurried away to the kitcheu to put her plans into exccution. Thi-n back ghe flew io adjust her mother's toilet and her mm. It was all in vain in vain that Mrs. Koaner protested that the gray silk was too fine for the occasion; Helen would not hear a word. she brushed and braided ■ Ucr uiuther's pxetty hair, and carefully adjusted the bandsome dress, wit li its soit lace at the throat and hands- lace that would have been sairiíiccd long ago il" it had had any value for the dressing of soldicr's wmtnils. Then, delighted with the cliarniing appearan :e her mother made. shc gave her an exeftéd kiss, and proceedcd with her mvn toilet, and was even more elabórate. There was no medium in Helen's wardrobe betweeu a gay blur party costume and the hoinespun she had just taken off, so she went to work to accommodate lier blue dress to her eiwn altci-ed proportions. Tlnee tucks were hurriedly ripped out, which made it long enough, and a little adjustment of the lace on the bodice suïliciently altered the fit. At last slie stood arrayeö. "Xow, mamma, all is ready. You must send him a message to conie to tea." The message was dispatched, and the mother and daughter iwaiied its answer in breathless suspense. The answer ramo very prompt ly in the person of a tall yeang oificer, with a soldierly figure and a ilarkbearded face, who had evidently used hls leisure in making sueli a toilet as ciieunistances allowed, and, now that the stains of dust and travel were removed, showed a kindly and handsome face. Helen feit herself half dazed as he came toward her mother, and s.üd something which, in her agitation, she did not catch; but she knew he was apologiring for his intrusión, and probably giving his name and some account of himself. His manncr was so pleasant and well bred that Mrs. Reaner, who had been agitated too, was conipletely reaBSurd, and found heraelf half uneonsciously Bpeaking to him in quite a íriendly way. Helen saw this. and it roused In an instant her smouldering flre, "Mamma," slie salo In a tone of cold decisión, "you are keeping the oíiio - trom his supper. Pray don't (et. i in him." AJ these worda the officer turned and looked at her, and as he did so, a sudden smile rose to his lips. Certainly there was reason for a smile in the transformation scène presented by the girl before him. The dainty silk and lace and ribbons that had replaced her worn and faded homespun dress, and the delicate little Klippers that appeared Instead ol the brogans, were amusing enough by contrast, and the smile that had been swiftly banished from the officer's lips still lingered in his eyea as he said: "I hope that your mother will not hurry herself at all on my account. I quite understand that I a m liere on sufferance, and I Bhould like ti be as little in the way as possible." "Your supper is qjilte ready." said Helen, steeling hetaell against his winIng politeness, and fearful of its effed apon her mother. "I will Bhow you the way"- and she moved toward the dining-room. They were all standing, and the officer instinctively drew back. to allow Mrs. Reaner. though it was in direct opposltion to the instructiona shc had receivel from Helen beforehand, found herself complying with his look and follöwing Helen's lead. She was rebuked by a severe look from her daughter, when the ddnlng-room was reached, and the look was followcd by these words, addressed to the officer: "This is your Heat, " touehing the only chair at tlie table. "The servants will obey your orders and serve you what you want. Mamma, we need not stay," she added, and would have turned but that the officer's v oice checked her. "Kxeuse me," he said, with a manner as quiet and as cool as her own. "I can, by no means, consent., to banisli Mrs. Keamer from lier own talile. If one of lis musí retire, I will go." There was m need for Helen to act after that. for Mrs. Beamèrj for once, took mattere in her own hands, and, turning to the servant, ordered a plato to be laid for her, and without looking at Helen again, peapd hersi'lf at the table, the ofilcer following her lcad. l'oor Helen, she feit herselt' vanquislied indeed, and there was Bothlng lelt for her 1i do but leave the room and betake herselt' to the poreh outside. As Bhe aeated hereett there, in the loom of the deepenlog frwillght, the unwonted aroma of fragrant coffee was wafted out to her, and she could faintly hear the voices of her mother and the Btranger engaged in what eeemed quite pleasant talk. Somehow she failed to get mucb gratlflcatlon from the recollection of her Bplrited eonduct. and was halfconscious oí feeling snubbed and subdued, as she sat there absently toyrng witli a little locket that hung ly a slim gold chaln around her neck. This was the only ornament she had, or cared to have,, and It was veiy dear to her by reason of its asBOCiatlona. Long ago when Bhe liad spent the winter With her parents in a northern city, she had a violent triendshlp tor a child oí her own age who lived nelghbor to theni. 8he hived tliis chita, Jenny Gray, with au ardor characteristlc of her enthusiastiC na turo. Jenny liad an uncle - a tall, splendid young gentleman whom she liad remembered as the ideal of her childish dreains Of a nero. Me liad been very irood to Jenny and herself, and 'uad laken them to siv slghts, and idM ihem stories, and played with them, until the mere memory of nis dellghtfuj atientUms and klndnesses was one of the pleasantest thlnga in Helse's thoughts oí her past. and he it was who had glvefl her this locket, and Jenny onc exáctly like it. witli his picture in each. She was not thinking of the locket nou-, or Jenny either, as she sat absently touchlng the trinket to her Upa and chaftng ünder her Ignomlnlous position. Suddcnly she was startlod by a sound; a stealthy footstep was creopIng towards the poreh, in the Bttaaow of the house, and she heard her own name spoken in a voice she could not mistake. ''Helen," was spoken in a low voice, "don't be frightened, my ehild, but help me to get into the house tinnoticed." It was her fathor- her preeious father, ano the house he wished to enter was tenanted and surrounded by the ènemyi What was she to do ? She reaehed out iu the dnrkness and seized his hands and eovered them with kisees. Then she whlspered hastily that there was a Yiink.'.' ot'fi.-'-r in the dinins-roiQpn and there were Yankee soldirrs at the lnvn. "Come in ihe house and let me Inde you," Bhe said, "until we have time to think." li was the only (hing fco do. and he quickly got over the ralfing of the poreh and gllded swiftly along until he reaehed the house door. .Tust then 1 li"iv was a sound of moviuir chaina in the dlning-roonv, and Mr. Renner Biezed his only chance to escape detection, and slipped into a Closet in the hall, the door of whieh Helen had just pushod to, when her mother and the offieer came out of the dinins-room and into the parlor. where the Confedérate eandle. consistinsr of a long wax tnper wound round and round a glaas bottle, with the end twistod ontward and upward. was ffl'llng the, room with its dim but soft light. Helen saw. with an agitation that almost smothered her, that the offieer took a seat that faced the door. and ave fu'll view of the closet in whieh her dear t'ather was concealed. It was a close, dark ]ilace and she feared the thought of his remaininu' there and vet what was he to do ? T'tterly unable to deolde, she went into the parlor, with an lostinctive desire to he near her mother, and fpeling, too. a stronsrer shrinking than ever from this Btranger, now that he appeáred so plainly in the light of her darling father's enemy, whp might shoot him, without a question, if he caughi sight of him. When she entered the room, the oificer rose and offered her his seat, but she decltned it. with a rather hauiihty movement, and a. look oí distress on her face that she had not had bofore, and whieh perhans he saw. As Bhe sat down by her mother. the offieer surprised her by sayiuir. abrupt ly: "Would you permit me to examine the little locket you are wearins ?" "T ÁúppoÉe tliis is his w.-iy of stealing jewelry." thouüht Helen, ïiuUlcnantly, and. with a sudden return of her defiant rebel spirit, she took off the chain and loeket. and proceeded to open the lntter and remove the picture, In f ore hftnding it to him. He looked angry for a moment, and then he laughed. "Tt is the picture only that I wantod to see," said the officer; "but pince you fenr to trust me with it, I will ask you to hand it to your mother. I am anxious to see f she jireoeives a resenib'ance." Mrs. Keanor. at These words, took the loeket trom Helen'a hands, and looking first at the picture and then at the bronzed bearded face lx'fore her, brökè into a wóndering, perplexed, and yet ploased smilo. "The board makea a great difforence, no doubt." said the offleer, smilIng, "hut all the samo. Miss Helen, you have reeelved into your house, unknowin.uly. an old friend - and one who would be your friend still, if he could serve you." Helen had listenod In speechlesB wonder, too ooníused, almost, to think. but at tiloso laat words a sudden gleam oí hope .-nul brlghtness broke ocrosa i b.e shadow of her face. ghe thOUghi oí the dear one, hiding and in peril, close at hand, and Bhe !' -1 1 thankful for this proffered frlendshlp. "Are you reall.-.' Jenny'8 Cncle iny," she sa ld, "tlial usi'd to be s good to me ? 'Thai would lic filad to 1' gPOd to yon now, in Bpite o! the tact th.-it. in om' scusi', wc are encmies." "Qh, jou eau. ii' you will," said Helen, eattcrly. "I will 1f 11 you now. lmi it must a secret, even iïom mamma. Mamma, may I whisper ?'.' she said lurninu an earnest face to Mrs. Kramer, ;uid Uien. a quick step, she went loward the oïlicer and told liim all in a few agitnted, inipuisive words. Mis. Keamcr lookcd on sinilinir, never dreainiiiji hu; ihai il was some queer whim of H:-lrn's, ibout smur trivial matter. Slie rose prcsciuly and said: "Is it some nicssaiie to .lenuy iliat I am forbiddm to liear '.' 1 tUiakj 1 liet ter not le in the way of sneli a coiiíidence, so 1 will K"-" To Heleii's delfín . she cross, -d the hall and went np stairs; t coast was now clear. It wonld never have to l'-t her moiher known of lier fatlier's presence; the ehanre ol' his escape wonld have been too terruily lessenrd b.V tliat. 'Listen to me," said tlie ofiher. risilla to liis (eet. "your fa Uier is in ,nre;:t il.-inuci': the men in 1 he iiarn musí nol kiüi-.v tjjfli has been he.-e 't wonld , l-.e norse lor ee;y one. I will fiu. now and make some jirelext to take i In i il av:i.v and 1lüs is what you niusi do. The moment we are out oí ftigM in one dinv : ;. n, your iatlu-r must escape in the opposile one. Tel] liim to go to the barn and take besl horse ihere and vide off in the way he eame. as hard as hc rail. Wlieii we v.-uirn llie will be gono - and the jnystery will simply be e mystcry. Do just as l teil y.ni, Heien and all will se well." His t)i-ders were ex.e-iitod to the letier. and not until the dear prisoner was safely aw.iy did Helen da re to teil the truth to her moiher. "And lic told me. niainma, darling, to teil papa lli.it as iar as his power reached, we shonld lx: safe. He h-ii a to show in any l'nion men wlio cainc here. 1 believe iie is some distinuuished man wlio has a grent deal of power and auihoriiy and what do you lliiuk I did ? Alter he had saved papa and let liim tálalas own horsc. and bren so íídoiI to us. I forjíot all aboul, his Ikíiií;' a Vankci.', and when he was gqiDL away 1 took his liand and kissed it. and he said: " 'Then you don't think of it as the hand of an eneiny ?' and I told liim uu, I had foriiot ten everyth'nui about him bul tluit he was our new truini in out' liinii' of need, ,-ind our o!d telend that 1 had always loved au .lenny's Duele .limniy."- Vouth's dnipanion.