Year: 1877

Although in that way the. girls saw ,

 good many strangers, they had rarely i

 ever, gone beyond the precincts of thei

 own home. The world outside the grounds of Wykeham Manor had always fbeen. de

 nied them. Mir. Clermont being of opinion

 that girls could not go too little abroad

 therefore it was not altogether strang'

 that they had entered into their nine

 teenth year before they saw Sebastian

 Long.

 Sebastian Lcng was the greatest land owner in the neighborhood, and s'eccen tric' was the mildest word used whel

 speaking of him; indeed there were found

 some to hint cautiously and with batei

 breath of madness, although the onl, symptom evlnced was that he had shu

 up the great house that his forefather,

 had bequeathed to him, and had spent .

 rowing life in foreign lands, in preference

 to staying quietly and decorously d

 home. enS

 But there was, as there generally is another side to the question. The .saii house was large, and somewhat gloomy and lonely for a man who had neither wife nor mother to keep him company il it; so it was not perhaps altogether SC wonderful his preferring to spend his time amongst his mothers Spanish relations

 who made for hlm the nearest approach to a home he had ever known.1. -ss-t

 And now as to how and where he and his neighbors first met. It was the even ing of lovely summers day. just such g one as that early dawn on which Menu. phar first made her appearance might have grown into later on, when the mists %6o Io ol1 ing place to something brighter and more glorious. But, as on that other occasion, the work of the day was not begun, so on this 1t was over and done with, and the tHo girls were out on the terrace that sur- rounded the house, Nenuphar lazily re, clinlDg on the marble steps reading, and Heather some few yards distant from her feeding the peacocks. It was a brilliant picture enough, for the sun was near set. ting. and it's declining rays dyed scarlet everything they touched. They tinged even Nenuphar's white cheeks with some of their own warmth and color, and caused the soft yellow curls that lay upon her forehead to brighten, until they shone like molten gold.

 It was just what she wanted toglve per- lection to her beauty. which was other wise too cold and colorless, though there were not often people to be found who thought so.

 ''How full the world is of sunshine p exclaimed Heather, as she watched the evening glow intensifying the colors of the gorgeons birds before her, and the rich tints spreading over the landscape ''How full the world is of sunshine r

 Nenupnar did not reply to her compan- ion s: s::rhapsodies, being too much interested in her book: besides, she was not much given to rhapsodise over anything.

 After Feathers remark the silence re- mained unbroken, until suddenly on the path was thrown a long black shadow, which lay still and motionless between the two girls-the shadow of Sebastian Long. 9f ...s4.s-

 Heather was thinking too much of her peacocks and Nenuphar of her book to give it g thought, and his footsteps had been so silent over the smooth turf that led up to the gravelled walk, that they had never heard his approach; but pres. ently he moved a little, upon which the shadow wavered for second, and then fell right across Nenuphar, enveloping her in entire darkness.

 At the sudden eclipse Nsuuphar raised her head, and saw, standing before her, 8 man with soft Southern eyes, and dark looking mcustache, and small pointed beard.

 Heather, !" she said and at her voice the stranger turned towards the girl ad- dressed. and raising his hat, said, ''I beg your pardon for taking you by surprise in this way. but have come to see your father, and took the short cut through the gardens instinctively; it is so long since have been at home thatI quite forgot that it might be at liberty"

 .sThen you are MT. Long," exclaimed Heather, impulsively, holding out her hand; ''how glad I am to see you Oh, I hope you have come home for good p

 ''Yes, have come home," he replied: ''but for good or for evil; who can say ?' he added In lower tone, as if to him. self '~

 "Let me show you the way to my fath- er's study" said Heather; "but first must introduce you to my adopted sister -Nenuphar-Mr Long

 Nenuphar bowed, and then the other two turned away towards the house, chat ting merrilY as they went.

 When, couple of hours afterwards, greetings and explanations and welcomes over, Sebastian once more emerged from bhe house, he was a little startled to find Nenuphar still seated on the marble steps. She was no longer reading, although even that might be possible, so brilliant was the starlight, and the moon, which had just risen, was shedding such a soft, quiet light over the scene he had last seen illu- mined with the glow of sunset. She vas sitting on one of the lower steps, her head resting against the urn filled with gerani- ums that stood behind her, and gazing up into the bright heavens above with such intense earnestness that she might have been trying to read her fate therein.

 '.Are you not cold out here ?" asked Mir. Long. for want of something better to say, when he reached her side, as she still did not move. 5 fteT ss

 "Cold ?-no,'' she replied, sitting up and turning towards him. "Why, it would be shame to go in on such a lovely night. Oh, if only this sort of weather would but last all the year round l'-

 ''There, Miss" and he paused.

 .Miss NeGzupifahgs, Niz ID ifhs said. quietly,

 not agree with you Summer is all very we'll iD its way, but it is nothing without winter to back it up It is pleasant, of course, but enervating. and that IS, the reason why, with all it's faults, prefer this country to the ones have been liv- ing in lately"

 But think of the snow and the cold and the storms that we know are coming, and then. looking mp at that sky above us, and feeling the warm sweet air that blows around us, can you not find 1t in your heart to agree with me when say that would sacrifice one half of my life if the other half could all be spent in some sheltered sunshiny spot, far away from thls existence of mingled heat and cold Ah," and she gave little faint shiyer. ''the very thought of winter makes me miserable!'

 II am afraid we should never agree on that subject, for love storm. l think 1t is a grand though fearful sight to see tall trees thai have had firm foundation in the earth for ages, fall before that giant power which is not even visible. Yes, he went on, warming with his subject, and for the moment almost forgetting his white, lovely listener, :I love to stand and watch such a storm: to hear the wind screaming through the branches, and to fI,o xu;11 xuo risiuO mn nadlv in