The Arkansaw traveler., 1883-10-13

him. as he sat there. the singing of the river In his fathers garden. as il sang in the days when he lay by is margin con- ming his Cesar or devouring romance. And through all came the voices of the whis, players, as the rubber was lost or won. The queen of hearts would win her trick b the solemn measure of a funeral march. and a gay troubadour 5 di;;y celebrate the revoke of Tom Brown. who had an evil trick of revoking. and always declared Miss Lacy's music ,Eipped up his wits and led him astray. Then the party would break up with laughter and a glass of beer. and Der wen; Percival would say. with his eyes GAS; down. for he was shy man:
 Thank you, Miss Lacy. It's quite wonderful. the effect of your playing l. se;s me 10 dreaming all sorts oi old things"
 lie was big. handsome yoags fellow. this PefcivA-Miss Lacy thought the handsomes. man she had ever seen. She would steal glance a, him on, oi he corners of her half-closed eyes. as she sa; playing. Oace he met il. and olushed horriely. \ somans eye always dis omitted him. There vas a sifl m A country parish fifty miles away. whose soft far face dwelt n his heart. ard kep; |: fresh and pure with her innocent gaze. which ye, ioashed him when he was be- side her. He had never dared ,o nee; full. and tell swee, Frances Lorrimer ,ha, the one hope of his life had grown round vision Of those blue eyes oi hers, smiling kindly into his. Ks Miss Lacy softly touched her chords. he lay wondering l, ever he should kiss tha; fair face of his dream. and call her by name. and touch her hand. and know + was hls own, Miss Lacy lit,le knew the aspirations she evoked with her spells. They dii no, re- veal themselves to her. Oaly the ass saw the angel oi the Lord as he stood in the way.
 The other young men were no: slow to rete The fascination of Miss Lacy,s piano and rallied Percival numerically
 fooh !. what fellows you are he would cry. good-naiuredly enough. No one could offend perclvai But Miss Lacy was not of So easy temper. l, annoyed her excessively ,o ietee; fur,ive smiles on several faces. when she passed ihe young master m the school-couu on her way 10 chapel of Sunday morning Old MI. Sca,;herd was in,olerable, with his rosu'sh eye always or the watch for something to feed hts sense Of the humor- ous. How wicked he looked. and how aosutdiy shy lercIval was for a man oi hs standlng Some men were and could not help i;; the bes, of men, often He would shake l; of under the influence of sensible woman. The nex; vacan; Clearinghouse WAS promised to fereival lie would have to marry. Miss Lacy liked boys. and was easily al home with them. \ home of her own would be very convenient to her. for Septlmus was going to be married. and then she would De very lonely. and not too well oil. She was sociable woman, and liked the prospect of lone maiden life in lodg- ing-house but little. Nothing would be more suitable than proposal from Der wen, Pereival. He was perhaps year or two younger than herself. but would doubtless see the inexpediency of asking q young. giddy girl to be mistress of q | household of schoolboys.
 When the mind of a man or woman Is possessed of a fixed idea |, Is astonish- ing how soon all accidental surrounding ! accommodate themselves to the situation devised by fancy. Mir percival became Miss Lacy's fixed idea She arranged herself, so to speak, mentally and bodily ] I-pos,ured benttlngly. Bu, all this in secret no whisper. no blush. no giriish airs. no murmured confidence even in the ear oi her chief woman friend perhaps i her only woman friend-Mrs Urquhart loyal. unconditional. warm-hear,ed. hot-'empered. out-spoken little Mrs. Crquhart, who never watched or sus- pected anybody. and for all her sharp tongue, had sweet, disarmins trust fulness and honorableness. rare in wo- men.
 Now, as Miss Lacy sa, a, home one afternoon. reviewing her position. Tn her easy way, wi.h small, luxurious surround ings. denoting the temperament and style ot the woman-a new ,SaInreiIY Res'ie14' Tn her hand, and grea, saucer oi roses at her elbow. while her shapely foot. in black-silk stocking and dainty slipper, rested in the warm fur of huge Persian cat, curled up like a foo,s,ool- there came knock at the door. and Mir. perelval pu, in his handsome head.
 'Oh. Miss Lacy, excuse me though, your brother was here, and want Bu, won't disturb you-anv time w,li do.'
 Pray. come in, Mir. Percival," said she. in the quiet, pleasant, reassurng way, that always put him at his ease. and drove all memory of his friends jokes ou; of his head. She rose 10 gree, him :: What do you want: want somebody to talk to. so don, be afraid of disturb ing me; I'm perfectly idle this morn- ing"
 There was delightful air of the dolce far nente abou; Miss Lacy and her sitting room. Mir. percival found comfortable chair so close a, hand tha, he had simply to slt down n |. He sa, down and fel, very much Al home.
 II, vas only the second volume of Froude, Miss Lacy. which was going to borrow for half an hour
 She picked large rosebud ou, of the saucer. and tossed |, .o him hghtly
 .. The syee,est of all roSex v -rfeI sLe