270 Ten lears of niy Life. 



that scarcely one day passed without some entertainment, 

 party, or pleasure excursion. This was very natural. Officers 

 have much time to spare, and are in general a light-living 

 people and very social amongst themselves. The five or six 

 ladies who formed the particular set to^ which I belonged saw 

 each other daily, and there was always amongst them occasion 

 for some entertainment, and besides we gave regular parties 

 each in her turn. When relatives from outside came to visit 

 one of us they had of course to be entertained, and thus an 

 occasion for a smaller or larger party v/as never wanting. 



Speaking of strange visitors reminds me of an incident 

 occurring at that time, in which I played a part as a match- 

 maker, and very successfully, for the couple brought together 

 by my means are very hapi)y. A few pages back I mentioned 



that, while living in Rorschach, a young Miss von D , 



from Kurland, was confided to my care by her father. She 

 was a very pretty girl, and her photograph was in my album. 



We had in our regiment a Lieut.-Colonel von O , who 



was a bachelor, and expected by everybody to remain one to 

 the end of his life, as the hearts of all our young ladies and 

 their mothers had been exercised on him in vain ; he was a 

 very agreeable and therefore desirable man. One day, when 

 looking over my album, he seemed to be spellbound by the 



photograph of Miss von D , inquiring most eagerly who 



that beautiful lady was. Now chance would have it that I 

 had just received a letter from her, informing me that she and 

 her father were at Schlangenbad. Salm and myself, who liked 



both Miss von D and the Lieut.-Colonel, thought that it 



might lead to a match if we brought them together, so we 



invited Baron D and his daughter to meet us at Binger- 



briick, where we went, accompanied by Lieut.-Colonel von 



O , of whom I had written nothing to Miss von D . 



The Lieut.-Colonel was still more charmed by the life original 

 of the photograph which had inflamed him, and Miss von 



D seemed also to be pleased with him, though she did 



not suspect his serious intentions. 



The Lieut.-Colonel was deeply in love, and as a proof of 

 that fact may serve the circumstance that he had not the 

 courage to ' pop the question,^ though he was several limes 

 alone with Miss von D , and that she returned to her Rus- 

 sian home without the Colonel having unburdened his heart. 



