for.'

'Overstrained ideas,' murmured the father peevishly. You will regret the want of patronage when, experience shall have taught you how far merit can go without it.'

'In war the good will of one's comrades is necessary,' proceeded Arwed. 'The soldier who is pushed forward through favoritism, must renounce it; and under Armfelt I foresee that I could not avoid being improperly favored. Wherefore I beg of you to let me go without recommendation to our king before Frederickshall.'

'Even to the most hopeless expedition of the whole campaign!' cried the father. 'Before that unlucky city which during the last year has cost Sweden her military renown, an entire third of her army, and very nearly the life of her king,--where peasants and serving maids suddenly became more furious than the hostile elements and put to flight the conqueror of Moscow. How hast thou become possessed of this foolish fancy?'

'I desire that Sweden's hero should witness my first essay in arms,' answered Arwed.

'Overweening self confidence!' said the father. 'I trust that thou wilt every where maintain the honor of our name, and the coolness of age sees farther than the heat of youth. The king has not yet learned to be sparing of his soldiers, as there is none but God to call him to account for his conduct. The general has more restricted duties. And although I appreciate eagerness for action and am disposed to satisfy it, yet I cannot consent to place your life at the disposal of Charles's mad humour. You go to Armfelt.'

'Dear father!' implored Arwed, and at that moment the valet-de-chambre entered with the count's hat and sword and announced that the carriage was ready.

'It is settled,' said the senator in the most decided manner to his son, whilst he buckled on his sword. 'I will hear nothing further in opposition to my determination.'

He snatched his hat violently from the servant, and hastily sallied forth.

'This is hard!' said the afflicted Arwed. 'Must I obey?' he asked himself after a moment's pause,--'Why torment myself!' cried he finally. 'Gushes not for me, in one kind heart, the silver fountain of goodness and wisdom? She shall tell me what is right in the struggle between filial duty and my own better conviction. She shall decide.'

CHAPTER II.

Alone, with folded arms, on the following evening, Arwed wandered up and down the northern bank of the Suedermalm in the new volunteer uniform, anxiously glancing across lake Malar towards the magnificent city of Stockholm, which there arose with its palaces, cupolas and towers, proud and lordly as became the queen of those waters. The sun had already gone down, but it yet glowed redly upon the waves of the lake, gently ruffled by a soft west wind, and its last rays glistened upon the knob of the high towers of St. Gertrude, which it lighted up like a giant star shining through the incipient twilight. With earnest attention the youth's eyes glided from tower to tower and from palace to palace, until they finally remained fixed upon that of the royal residence, which in consequence of the continued impoverishment of the treasury had not been rebuilt since the fire that destroyed it twenty years before.

'What horrible desolation in the midst of so much splendor!' said Arwed mournfully to himself. 'The ruins of the royal castle almost appear to me to be symbols of the decay of this noble realm! Yet also this palace,' proceeded he, consoling himself with the light-mindedness of youth, 'will one day again rise from its ashes, perhaps more beautiful than before. Lost lands can be conquered again, new generations will come to fill up the vacancies caused by the sword, and soon perhaps will Europe tremble again before the mighty roar of the Swedish lion.'

A splash in the water interrupted the proud prophecy. A row-boat from the Ritterholm cut through the stream and neared the bank. Two ladies in plain dark cloaks and covered with white veils, stepped from the boat. 'Georgina,' cried Arwed in ecstasy, springing towards her. With light, nimble steps one of the ladies, a slender and delicately formed figure, approached and affectionately extended to him her right hand, while her left was employed in withdrawing the veil from her youthful and lovely face.

'My Georgina!' he joyfully repeated, leading her to a seat upon the rocky bank, whilst the other lady remained standing at some distance, sending from under her veil in every direction her scrutinizing glances, so as to be enabled to warn the youthful pair betimes of any troublesome witness who might interrupt the happy interview.

The beauteous Georgina fixed her affectionate gaze upon the beloved youth, but with softened feelings which filled her dark eyes with tears. 'By your dress I see,' said she with emotion, 'that this is our parting hour--and I thank thee that I have been hitherto kept in ignorance of it, so that I was enabled to enjoy the anticipation of this meeting without alloy.'

'Yes, dearest maiden,' answered Arwed: 'my wishes are accomplished, my father's kindness has opened to me the path of honor, which I dare to hope will enable me to deserve and obtain thee. That I may hereafter be entirely thine, I now leave thee. Thou wilt again see me, crowned with the laurels of victory, or thou wilt hear that I have bravely fought and fallen worthy of thee and myself.'

'Oh, Arwed,' faintly murmured the almost breathless maiden, reclining her beauteous head upon his breast and turning her eyes upon his face with a look of gentle reproach. 'Must it then be so? Thou hast indeed always asserted this sad necessity, but I could never bring myself to believe it. Credit me, my father is good, and by no means so haughty and violent as the Swedes consider him. Ungrateful men indeed, hate him--but he loves his newly adopted country. Thy house is one of the most honorable--and even if he had other plans respecting me, he would not be able to withstand my prayers if I dutifully opened my heart to him.'

'I love thee with all my soul, Georgina,' said Arwed with flashing eyes: 'but at the same time Swedish pride claims its rights. It would be disgraceful to a Gyllenstierna to be indebted to the prayers and tears of the daughter for the consent of the proud stranger. And if your father should now ask me what I had hitherto done for the honor of the name which his child is to bear, and I could answer him nothing except that I had read Greek and Latin with my tutor and listened to a few college lectures at Upsala, I should sink into the earth for shame. Yet not for that cause alone do I grasp the sword. With it I hope to gain the favor of the king and independence of my father, who, though he truly loves me, will hardly with a good will consent to the proposed connection. Besides, having long since decided on my course, I beg that you will not make more difficult by your sorrow a step which is already sufficiently afflicting, since it separates me from you.'

'Cruel, perverse man!' said Georgina, kissing him. 'Yes, your sex are our tyrants, and the worst of it is, that the more pitilessly you torment us through your pride and severity, the more ardently we love you. What can the poor feeble maiden do but submit to the hard fate which her Arwed decrees--and henceforth weep, hope, wish, until her lot is indissolubly united with his.' She dried her tears, and then with assumed resolution asked; 'when do you leave?'

'This night I depart for Norway,' answered Arwed, 'but whether for the north or the south, you must decide for me.'

'I?' asked Georgina, trembling: 'you mock me.'

'You know the reasons,' proceeded Arwed, 'which induce me to desire to repair to Frederickshall. But my father insists