Year: 1877

BY INEZ IRVING.

 ''Queen rose of the rosebud of garden of girls Come thither, the dancers are done.

 In gloss of satin and glimmer of pearls,

 Queen lily and rose in one.",

 Ralph Bancroft repeated the exquisite lines of Tennyson's .sMaud" in low, musical tone, as he waited in the con- servatory of Mrs. Vests mansion for zella West, his affianced, while the odorous plants and rare exotics seemed to breathe upon his rapt senses the very spirit ot poetry from their per fumed hearts, and to blend in an in- tangible but harmonious manner with the poetry on his lips. .s

 A rustic of woman's sweeping skirts, light, firm step, and rarely beautiful woman stands before him, a living, breathing embodiment of the poets inimitable verse, and rivaling in her animate perfectness the beauty of form and color of the inanimate scene around her.

 He held out his arm to her, saying as he did SO:

 Were it ever so airy tread

 My heart would hear her and beat,

 Had it lain for century dead"

 And with infinite tenderness, he drew her close to his heart, and bent his dark, handsome face downward until his bearded lips touched hers.

 70, Ralph, how can do without your" escaped from her lips, and the long lashes quivered with the effort to keep back the tears, as she rested her her head on the true manly breast and realized how dreary her life would be without him.

 A pang shot through his heart as he realized that it was the last time he might hold her thus for two long years, and alas those two years might bring changes to both-perhaps the relentless foe of earthly happiness might breathe upon one his whitening breath ere that time. ....5 He silenced the doubt bravely; the loving heart now beating for him so tenderly must not have an atom of care that he could ward off.

 'sTwo years will soon pass, dearest" he said, stroking her hair. 'and we shall write regularly. Were it not for extremely urgent reasons I should not spend this summer on the Continent without you, but my father is desirous of my going before my marriage"

 "Well," smiling up at him through her tears, "I will try to be patient and hopeful, though it will be hard work. :"

 "You will get used to my absence, darling," and taking from his pocket a small volume, richly bound in green and gold, he said, ''I have brought you this volume of our favorite Tennyson for company in my place. I have marked all our favorite passages, and am going to carry the old one we have admired together for the sake of the sweet associations" and thus they sep arated.

 

 "Arthur, cannot you take this letter and slip it into the box at the corner?'

 70, yes, mamma, I put one in for Aunt May one day."

 "Well, my dear be very careful, and go at once before the letter man comes round," said Mrs. Percy, and Arthur started off briskly on his errand.

 But the street was tronged more than usual, for it was Saturday afternoon, and the child made several unsuccessful attempts to get at the box. At last he gained 1t, and, as he thought, slipped in the letter, but the crowd jostled him so quickly, that he did not perceive that it only went half way in and fell back on the pavement.

 A gentleman, bronzed, and heavily bearded, was passing at the moment with an air of abstraction and eyes bent upon the sidewalk. As he saw the let, ter drop, with quick motion he res cued it before 1t was trodden by the crowd, and before placing it in his pocket, he glanced, as was natural, at the address. His listless air changed suddenly into one of intense interest as he re-read the address carefully, and slipped it into it's place and passed on.

 Taking out of his pocket card he wrote something on 1t, and with quick ened, elastic tread returned to his hotel.

 The gentleman was Ralph Bancroft. He had returned to his native city a week before to find Zella's father in a bankrupt's grave, while she had disap- peared from the society where she had once reigned queen and he could find no clue to her whereabouts. On ac- count of his continual change while abroad, her letters had missed him for the last nine months. After her fath- er's death she. wrote to him, giving him also her new address, but, as she never heard from him, she concluded he was either dead or had changed towards her. Her present abode was not known to the old friend whom Ralph sought out to make inquiries. He was almost frantic in his baffied search, when the lucky episode occurred as we have mentioned.

 60, my darling" he thought as he prepared to visit her; "what must you have suffered"

 The address he had copied from the letter was in an aristocratic part of the city, and he we'll that if this was Zella's home she was not there as an equal.

 He rang the bell almost imperiously. The servants angry scrutiny faded into a deferential air as she saw the