"For a soldier," cried Helena, "that side is the right which his duty and the oath plighted to his sovereign calls upon him to defend." "Certainly, certainly," said the candidate, as if agreeing with her; "but women should feel greater interest in peaceful and beneficial usefulness,--what help, for instance, can a soldier be to his wife and children? at any moment he may be called away to do battle for the great ones of the earth,--he gives his life for a cause for which he does not care, and his family are left in need and misery." "And they bear in their hearts the proud consciousness that he for whom they weep is worthy to be called a hero," cried Helena with kindling eyes. The candidate gave his cousin a reproving look, and said, in a solemn voice,-- "I believe the conflict in God's service has also its heroes." "Certainly," said Helena, without embarrassment; "every calling has its own round of duty to fulfil, and we," she added with a smile, "are here to comfort and to help those who are wounded in the battle of life." And again she dreamily turned her eyes to the distance. After a moment she rose hastily. "I think," she said, "the heat will be less oppressive out of doors. I will walk to meet my father; he must now be returning." As she put on her straw hat she asked, "Will you come with me, cousin?" "With the greatest pleasure," he replied eagerly; and they left the parsonage together, taking the road which led to the village. "I have so greatly enjoyed my life here," said the candidate, after they had walked for a short time in silence, "that I already quite understand the charm of this quiet, peaceful seclusion, and I own myself ready to forego all larger circles of society." "You see," said Helena merrily, "a short time ago you shuddered at our solitude, as I did at the restless, crowded city. At a time like this," she added, with a sigh, "it is hard to be so completely cut off from the world; we literally hear nothing--what has happened to the army and the king?" she said with energy. "Our poor sovereign!" The candidate was silent. "Really," he said, after a short pause, continuing his own flow of thought, as if he had not heard his cousin's last words, "really one. cannot feel solitary here. Your father's conversation, so simple, yet so rich in thoughts, offers greater variety than many an assembly in the great world; and your society, dear Helena," he added warmly. She looked at him with astonishment. "My society," she interrupted, with a smile, "cannot compensate for your friends in town; my learning----" "Your learning!" he exclaimed hastily; "is it learning that charms us in a woman?" "A certain amount must be needful," said she, half jokingly, "when conversing with a learned man."