Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-05-23

like yOu to make IN ehVits 'A'o'
mond. II will repay you."
His tones were moro humanity cor.
dial than Molly could have believed
possible. She forgot how bis satire
had frightened her.
~ will. - she said earnestly, looking
nm At him with her candid eyes. ~
am sorry about the exercise. And |
am afraid--I ought to tell you'll made
YOU believe--I might have tried q little
more-but there was--a party J"
The Professor laughed out. Hewould
never have done it II be had not been
taken BY surprise, but somehow Molly
had thawed him completely unawares.
His laugh cleared the air. Molly
laughed herself merrily, with an instant
perception Of the humor Of the thing,
but she regained her gravity at once.
81 will not do it another time" she
said humbly, looking up into his face
again.
How long was it, wondered Baroko
dimly, since any one had raised such
clear and trustful eyes to his ?
81 will do my best" she added
earnestly, and the Professor said:
81 am sure you will"
It was with some trepidation that
Molly knocked at Baroko's door the
next morning. She had been trying to
get up logic, but the attempt had been
unsuccessful, and the ordeal was rather
formidable. But there was fire burn
ing in the small room; and though
Baroko seemed to have frozen up since
Yesterday, his frigidity melted before
Molly's frank, girlish gratitude. One
by one the difficulties vanished. Ba-
| roko found that it was pleasant
work to explain things to Mol
ly. The girl had brains, and q
large share Of intuition. They got
on excellently, and the Professor
did not cavil at the dainty rufiles at
Molly's throat and wrists, nor at the
knot of scarlet geranium. And Molly
was fascinating. Schoolgirl as she was,
the arts of fascination were-had always
been-natural to her. She had never
been suggestive of bread and butter.
Her instinct was to try to win peoples
liking, male or female, young or old |;
she could no moro help it than she
could help her hair falling in pretty
brown waves. One could not justly
call her a coquette-though, by the
by, very many did; her charm was
TOO spontaneous, and it lay to a
great extent in the consciousness that
she would have suffered or sacrificed
anything for one who had been kind to
her and whom she loved. She cared a
great deal too much, probably, to win
affection; but she was certain to repay
it in full measure. On this occasion
her desire to win Bsroko's liking, and
her desire to please him because he was
good to her, were blended beyond the
possibility of discrimination. To do
her Justice, she regarded him as about
sixty, and never dreamed of what might
happen.
The lesson went off brilliantly, and
Molly rose 10 co.
"Thank you SO very much" she
said. 81 am sure l shall manage now.
And thank you for not laughing at
me-" she added on the spur of the
moment. 81 mean for not being sar-
Castle"
Baroko rose, but he seemed in no
bnyrv IN end the interview.
"Do you object to sarcasm" he
inquired good-humoredly.
IL can't bear it, said Molly, with
her usual frankness. She had alto
gether lost her fear of this formidable
Professor. at goes through one. /
don't mind what hard things people say
| if they will only say them straight out ;
but when they sound angelic and stab
you-oh, it makes one hate oneself,
and vexed with every one else besides.
dare say it is good for me-" she added
as an afterthought.
81 will try not to inflict any more Of
it upon YOU" said Baroko with some
amusement.
"Oh had forgotten" said Molly,
blushing. 81 was thinking Of people
l know. Please excuse me. Thank
you again, Professor Brandon, and
goodbye
TWAS pleasant to see Molly's earnest
and confident air when she next came
to Baroko's study for what she called
a private rehearsal. She was carrying
a spray of sweetbrier that she had
brought from home-it was her wont
to bring flowers to all her particular
friends-and she cast it down care
lessly on the table as she shook hands.
Sweetbrier ?" remarked Bsroko
calmly. "Ah, how pleasant it smells !"
Isn't it delicious?" said Molly
blithely. at always reminds me Of
old times. Take it if you care, Pro-
fessor Brandon. | can get plenty
more"
"Thank you," said Baroko, with
grave courtesy, taking the spray from
her hand. 1t would have been difficult
to tell from his tones whether the gift
pleased him, and Molly half fancied
that she had been foolish to offer him
anything so frivolous as sweetbrier.
But she dismissed the subject with
girlish lightheartedness, and it never
crossed her mind again.
Baroko, however, took the sweetbrier
home and kept it in a vase till it grew
limp and dropping. When the servant
came in to dust one morning it was
gone.
"If she notices its Absence" said
Baroko to himself, with a guilty con.
science, referring to the domestic, as
be stole the sweetbrier out of the vase,
"she will probably think that have
thrown it into the fire.
After this Molly made rapid progress
Two months later when Alicia, with an
amiable condescension, calculated to
melt the hardest heart, offered to help
her through a difficult exercise at the
end of "Jevons," she was able to re.
fuse the offer with equal amiability.
"0h, l suppose Professor Brandon
will.help you," said Alicia sweetly,
:" forgot"
"Oh, no." returned Molly, who,
young as she was, quite understood the
art of fencing. HE only helped me