, 1896-11-11

save nine, and begin to rummage in her
pockets tor irr thinihle and needlccase.
Then ! slipped through the door or
looked out of the window or took IN "A
book. Sulpicio would draw near to o.
neetta.
Coneetta would turn Il little toward
Sulpicio.- J could sec with the tail Of
my eye their trembling hands clasp each
other, their faces near together, lit by
smiles, Il few tears running down their
furrowed cheeks. Finally they embraced
~fervently, and | contIruud 10 look in
another direction and u about the
weather, thinking Tit.ln ..r"if that
those tears aud sinilcs were .i,o;cthcr
worthy of the spr!ngIrne OF IL md Al
pair of rosy faces.
Once, however, the IIln,' NHr :. ~
I;ic that b2fol. The two sing; . ored
g. ether int the safe cuilrai V cStiC
ccs ord y :"~t; Sc. al bears an ulrh
4 i"' n.acy. rh" word s"r. rrti - uad
pc" l''t E-r. ?.thcr
t1u g g. ..'". black
. t,.,T ~. =. husband
aru wife trL au - ,h1n.e and
v NtIicftit HJpts. =" stf ant, a semi
.diutic girl, understood nothing except
that master and mistress were both out.
, seated wy 'clt " the chimney corner
to awai: :ncir reI.cH. 1t was Il glorious
winters day. Ny thoughts were rather
abusing. | Was trj ing to guess which
of the pair would come home first.
Which? COncetta, no doubt. Just then
| heard the 'frou frOu' Of a gown. |
rose, turned and found myself face to
face with SiGnora Nina, the young
widow of the first floor
The signora appeared surprised to sec
NE ana was quite embarrassed, all the
more because, having entered with her
accustomed familiarity, she wished not
to have the air Of committing an inlis-
erection, and she looked around to Sc
whether some one would come and lot
me know, indirectly, that sh" Was using
her right Of cntrcc. Meanwhile ! tDU, H
to her and was about to speak. She iplv.
stalled me. ~"Sicnora CoT,utla il not 81
hOme?' she asked me.
Nor Signor Sulpicio. am Tai;in
for one or the other of Them
"And was looking for ono or tn
other. | Will come again lmcT.'
But the knowledge that both wCrl
away from the house seemed tudiAqu!,
her, and she did o move.
'If you Wild like to wait here, |
will come another time, - said |.
"Thanks. You probably arc come il
order to-
For the same reason -
invited her to tul,n NV plncp ut thn
fireside, yet when she was seated there
| did not leave the room. Signora Nina
did not knew me, but ! knew Signura
Nina very well. Often from my win
dow above hers | had noted the color OF
her hair and vainly hoped for tho OPP
p%ortunity to learn the color of her eyes.
Now the white little hands that l had
seen beating Il tattoo on the window sill
were playing with the tongs of the do
nestle hearth. l saw clearly the face
that had been a mystery for me. All,
the Signora Nina was beautiful, Or at
all events she pleased me SO much!
She saw that | remained standing and
made me u courteous sign to be seated.
We waited in silence for some minutes.
No one came. Little by little that 81,
lence weighed upon us. She spoke to me
of Sulpicio, and | spoke to her of Co.
neetta. When she learned that l was
mediator between the old couple, she
smiled slightly. What u charming
smile!
"Such Il pity" she said, Ito live &C
Understandings
"Thcsc arr surface aoitations,' I OBJ
served. ''They are really fond of each
other"
She made Il little grimaco and was
silent. After awhile she said, "Wha,
o'clock is it,"
-Four o'clock"
at is late. l must 60. l will come
back again.
at really wants 10 minutes of L."
Signora Nina smiled and did rot &C
away. l did not know why, but my
heart was full Of joy bells ringing.
Then enter Sulpicio and Coneetta,
hand in hand.
is peace made?' Signora Nina and ]
questioned with our eyes.
at is" the eyes of the old pair re.
spondcd.
II came to pay my respects to you,
said the widow to Concetta, "but it is
late and l ought to GO
Conoetta replied with great good hui
NOR, "All the better that Signor Carlo
was here to keep you company
At this my heart beat harder and
perceived that the widow bluslcd. She
want away. | departed very soon after.
All day long Ithoughtof SignoraNin
Idrcamed of her all night. The next day
I passed the forenoon at the window i'll
order to see her and had the good for
tunc to exchange II good morning with
her. During tho next month l never
failed to go Mt the anne hour to the
window and always with the same happy
result. One day ! ventured to smile at
her, the next day she deigned to smile
on me-and five months and one week
later we were married.
We were happy. We lived in a pretty
little house sufficiently far from the
madding crowd. Our windows were not
overlooked by announcement neighbors.
The rooms were sunny, II our now
furniture cleaned in the light. Nina's
old uncle had absolutely refused-as he
phrased ito set us up in housekeeping
with his many infirmities and had gone
to live with n sister of his in the coun-
try. We were content to be alone. Our
rooms were decorated i'll pink and filled
with visions not less rosy. Nina had
such grace of manner, such a sweet
...:Io Loot ~, e,,n,,o IN vninn all mn.