Year: 1866

The side of the cliff has been hewn
out by the ingenious hands of man, and
house of entertainment formed in it,
IN whose rooms mirth and music have
striven for mastery, and light feet have
tripped gayly and thoughtlessly beneath
and between slowly yet surely crumb.
!, ling walls.


Here, on the 10th of April 1S-, the
young officers were busy preparing the
somewhat dingy ball room for their ex-
pected guests With difficulty, loads
of evergreens and flowers had been
brought down the steep descent, and
gay flags and banners draped the bare
rocky walls and festooned the musicians
platform. Mine hostess and her daught.
ers were busy all day long preparing for
the sumptuous banquet; and over the
supper room hung the Union Jack and
old England's standard, as if to insure
thoughts of stability and glory. The
steep steps in the cliff were carpeted
with scarlet cloth and arched with ever
greens; transformation was accom-
plished upon which the artists might
we'll gaze with pride and self-g -gratula-
tion.


"And when fair Luna shines over
the sea tomorrow night in full splen-
dor, just as the dear girls arrive" said
one sentimental Lieutenant, 81 am sure
they will be delighted, and the novelty
will more than compensate for any little
extra trouble they may incur"


81 think you are right, Oswald" "
said on older officer, from whose heart,
though time had efaced much of the
outward expression of romance, could
never be torn away its original love of
the marvellous and mysterious. "Tis
strange tumble-down old place, true
enough; but with the Demon Rock
bathed in moonlight, the ocean glitter
ing and shining as if incrusted with
Jewels, the old cliff, black and ruinous
as an ancient battlement, and under
meath the fairy grotto we have devised
for their light feet to dance in, woman
must have bid good-by to womanhood
if she is not charmed"


Meanwhile young girls were busy
with their toilets, and arranging with
comical perple1ity for that long descent
in the cool spring evening that must
intervene between the carriages and the
ball room Cloaks and hoods must be
worn, and dainty feet cased in some
more durable substance than satin or
kid; yet all these thoughts only lent
zest to their predicted enjoyment, and
the hours and days few merrily by.
Esther Graham, alone, complained
grievously of the inconvenience of the
place, till poor Emily, in a fit of annoy
ance, begged her to stay at home and
she would find another chaperone; but
this was not Miss Graham's desire
Like many other good women she loved
to regard herself as martyr to the
wishes and caprices of others, and now
that the glass told her that the young
officers would rarely invite her for her
own sake, she was the more 10 lined to
be displeased with the sister, on whose
account she made such sacrifices to
health and comfort.


81 very much doubt whether father
would like you to 60 at all, Emily; as
if they could not find better place for
a ball than the Cliff House! y


"Oh, Esther dear !'' said Emily, 81
am sure you will enjoy it very much
when once you get there, they have
made everything so nice for US. Frank
tells me that it looks quite different
place-that I hardly shall know it"


"Frank again, Emily? One would
think your cousin was the only person
you ever associated WITH


Emily was silent, and soon it was
time to dress, and little later Frank
arrived to escort them to the bail. He
sat down contentedly enough to wait
for his cousins, thinking of the soft
merry light that would shine in Emily s
eyes when she gazed on their fairy
grotto; thinking of the peeps at the
moonlit sea they might get from certain
hooks and corners that he had observed
behind flags and banners when they ar
ranged the supper-room; thinking of
the warm pressure of her little hand as
he led her cautiously and slowly down
those rugged steps, over which he would
take care to provide Esther with an
other partner; thinking of his poverty,
and turning from that sad thought to
the true, loving heart that had prom
ised to wait, even for years sooner than
disappoint him. His stern old uncle,
his prim cousin Esther, all faded into
insigni6cance at the thought of the rich
young love that was all his own. And
then the door opened, a vision of white
shone upon him, and Emily stood be-
fore him.


"My darling" he exclaimed, spring
ing to her side, and kissing her fair
forehead, "you are looking nice to-
night"


Many others less interested might
have echoed these words. In her SIM
pie white muslin robe, looped with
pink roses, a wreath of pink and white
rosebuds in her rich brown hair, a
small locket chain of gold around her
white neck, and golden bracelets on her
arms, Emily Graham might well have
suited the most fsstidious of taste in
the eyes of Frank Graham she appeared
as smiling angel; at the sight of her
he was inclined to exclaim with one of
Chateaubriand's Moorish heroes, "Cest
mon houris.'"


Jussthen the door opened and Esther