American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1873-09-06

Once outside the gate his courage slight
faltered. The world looked large, and he
resolved to make a first attempt where hC
was acquainted, and accordingly present
ed himself at Miss Grey's door
"Tm going to thelI ever tho many pic
tureth,'' he announced.
The lady looked up from her letter
salesman. "Indecd? Then | think
must patronize you. What shall buy?'
she asked.
"Iou can have any of them for five
thenth," and Paul deposited the portfolio
in her lap. She turned over the sketches
smilingly until, IN among them, her glance
fell suddenly upon bit of writing, and a
! swift flush leaped to her cheek as she
lifted the paper with hand that trem
| bled. The young art-vender noticed
neither flush nor tremor, but it did occur
to him that she was studying one draw,
ing long time, and he could not quite
make out what it was picture of, either.
Paul, did papa know you were com
ing?" she asked presently.
MOO" answered Paul, just trife con
fused; "cauthe couldn't wait all day for
him, tho | took it off the table and come
mythelf; but I'll give him thome of the
| money"
Then this was not intended to meet her
eyes yet. Had it been laid aside to be
| completed some other time9 Scarcely I;
| it was not the sort of message one would
write at different sittings, like an ordin-
| airy letter Had he left it unfinished be
| cause he fancied that writing it at all
would be useless and hopeless? Intui-
| lively she felt that this last surmise was
correct. 1t explained his slight avoid
ance of her these last weeks-the almost
imperceptible constraint that had tinged
his manner. And what should she do
with this tell-tale sheet? Send it back
without a word and let the secret find
other voice or d rim silence as the future
should determined? Something in her
own heart cried out in swift rebellion
against that. Keep the paper? That
suspecting child. How absurdly it had
all happened! A CLEAN of mischief flash
ed over her face, and catching up her pen,
she wrote upon the document-"Read and
approved;" then slipping it into its place,
she gave the portfolio back to Paul.
There. I'll give you five cents for one
picture, but you may keep it for me until
| want it. And, Paul, don't think you
had better go anywhere else with the pic
There are some that he wouldn't want
sold. Take them home, dear, and wait
until he knows about it."
After having so far yielded to impulse,
her womanly pride of course took its re
venge She wondered how she could
have been so insane as to do such thing,
What had possessed herr She hurried to
the door to call Paul back; but he was
beyond reach of her voice, and she sought
her room again, smiling little, though
tears of vexation stood in her eyes as she
caught sight of her own crimson face in
the mirror
"Twenty-eight years old, and no wiser
than this. Mildred Grey, you will never
be feminine Solomon! OH dear!'
Meanwhile Paul, somewhat consoled in
his waiting by the profits already re-
ceived, nearly fell asleep on the piazza
before papa arrived; but he aroused sutfi-
GENTLY to tell the story of his specula-
tions as far as developed
"Tho NTH Gray bought one-only 18th
in here yet-and thaid | better wait till
you wath home" he concluded.
VERY sensible advice" said papa, lift
ing his eyebrows at the magnitude of the
enterprise undertaken in his absence.
And what drawing did Miss Grey pur-
chaser
q don't know. You can tell it though,
write it,
So Mr. Rivers looked over the sketches,
one by one, until he saw something that
made him hurriedly drop the whole port
folio and hasten down the walk and across
the street.
"Well ~ exclaimed the astonished Paul,
"he'th gone TO thell her thome too"
The waiting was so long this time that
he had ample chance for full visit to the
land of dreams; and Mrs. Martha's tempt
ing dinner walked cold, and her temper
warm at the delay. But the loiterer re-
turned with eyes too radiant to notice
small clouds in any horizon, domestic or
otherwise.
After1hat-everyb body knows what came
porticos, and the dream grew to
a sweeter reality. To be sure Mrs. Martha,
who had before been afflicted because she
had so much to look after, now became
pathetic over being laid on Il
shelf-put aside for a stranger; but it was
a comfortable, easily managed trouble-a
sort of picked tribulation-that could be
so readily bottled up and put out of the
way when it was not wanted, and so easily |
over, and made as fresh as new |
when it was needed, that it was really in
to her
Just the old story, you see-old as the |
mills, and common as the daisies on the |
hillside. Yet even the dasies are new to |
each summer, the hills wear different col |
ors as we look at them through different
and the loving thought that |
winds fresh clouds about their tops and |
cares for each daisy as if it were the only |
one, makes this old story of human hearts
evermore sweet and new to each in their
and Home.