Mexico weekly ledger., 1877-02-01

came 1mmeQlately evident That WnaL-
ever had been the nature of her attack,
it had not left her in a swoon. She
resisted, with sufficient vivacity to at
test her consciousness, any attempt to
battle her temples or give her more air;
and presently, at her own order, was
lifted into an armchair by the servants
and carried up stairs.
AS we approached the gay group up
on the shore, beyond whom my gloomy
mood had perceived with satisfaction a
clear expanse of solitude, what was my
dismay to hear Alfred Colt exclaim,
"Why, here, as good luck will have
it, we chance upon u own party
Mimi, and May, and Meta, and the
BOYS. But who" he added, in tone of
| solilouuy, sis the center piece of this
family monument? A stranger to me,
I am sure. Do you recognize her, BobP
the girl in the red jacket"
The young lady thus unceremonious-
~ sketchedi ormed the apex OF the pyra-
mid that had been ~improvised upon the
wreck. Her scarlet jacket defined Wv
idly a softly curved figure; the delicate
ly shaped face, turned from US almost
to profile, had its animated contour
cast into relief by a pale background
of blue mist; while the winds, pushing
back to null length a cluster of light
brown curls. along with the dark plume
of a cOquettish little hat, gave, III con-
junction with the Jackets martial dash
of color, quite Il spirited air-a sort of
liberty-cap or banner-aloft look to the
whole group.
The tableau, however, did not stay
for elaborate criticism, but at the first
recognition of u approach tumbled to
pieces like a Chinese puzzle.
The boys rushed upon us with the
ferocious appetite of two young cannir
balls. Mimifew to ALI with a kiss, an
came very near bestowing upon me thu
same sisterly effusion of regard. Netta
chung to Alf's arm, and beamed I'M
feignedly gracious upon the next &C.
move to that prime object of her
warmth. May, the petted romp, MAD
her dual greeting cordially felt, and
then introduced her companion:
Miss Reed, Mr.. L; Miss Helen
Reed, my brother ALT"
We strolled leisurely along the beach.
Mimi, with a charming air of matron-
liness-she had been married six
monChs-attached herself to me. ALT
sauntered before us, Meta on his arm,
and conversing with Miss Reed. May
prowled restlessly about, evidently dy-
ing to bare her feet like the boys, and
wade in the wake of the surf.
81 am 8 oglad you came," said Mimi;
"there is to be a bali to-night-a fancy
ball, no masks. 1t was impossible for
George to be here, and mother and I
were wishing for escorts. ALI always
IS p~rovidential, dear fellow, and
What do you think of Miss Reed9',
Calamity checking the words that
arose to nay lips, "Really, 1 had MOI
thought, and unable at that momentto
reproduce in mental visions the picture
that had formed itself upon my retina
from the wreck, l now deliberately OBJ
served the young creature as she chat
ted with Alf.
ga very nice girl, I should think"
"We think her a beauty" said Mimi.
Certainly she is, as you say, a per-
fectly lovely girl; a favorite school
friend of Metals and mine, and we had
not cen her in three years until now,
although she lives in New York.
But no one ever sees her there
That is a part of the mystery
which, / suppose, really adds to our ad-
miration. And, poor girl, even here she
is a prisoner almost. A stroll in the
morning, occasionally coming down to
battle, and after that not Il glimpse of
her all day. She is in constant attend
ance upon an invalid aunt, a dreadful
creature-invisible, of course. Even at
school we had no idea where she lived.
Miss C knew, l suppose; but we
schoolgirls could find out, or
never WoUld, rather; for any sugges-
ton of walking home with Ellen gave
her such evident distress that she was
too much liked to be hurt for curiosity's
sake; and in school she was the life of
her class-one of those electric sort of
girls, you know, who always seem to
create a circle Of animation. And
So my companion affectionately rat
tied on, and would no doubt have con-
tinued aff~ectionately to rattle on, had
we not reached the fishing place; and
all her energies were diverted from me
to the laudable attempt of keeping her
exuberant brothers from plunging into
the briny boats, with apparent intent
of lavishing upon the bass and blue
fish the same excess of cordially that
had been so fiatsering in their reception
of ALT and myself.
By the time we returned, the beach
had assumed its midday aspect of
gay ETY.. Mimi was repeatedly called
away by friends. ALT, too, excused
himself for a moment, and I found my
self in the solitary enjoyment of escort
ing Miss Reed.
How, in the midst of commonplaces,
the confession escaped me that [ was
suffering from a desperate attack OF
1.-THE blues" do not know. Miss Reed
turned at the remark, and studied me
quickly with a glance 8 o penetrating
that l felt for the instant as if she were
in possession of the whole secret of my
despair.
But she remarked, presently, igno-
rantly enough, "Then you have come,
think, to just the right place to be
| cured.1 ia|IT' "