Year: 1877

that moment he reached the top of the landing where stood my wealthy customer Of course he lifted his hat. from off his splendid ruddy hair, and bow sd his handsome head, and waved his pinmp white hand for her to pass .on be- fore him. A lady was always honored. wnh all this gesticnlatory distinction by fife professor whoever she might be. Miss Van C0ot, with one eager, deyouring look upon him, went on to her carriage, from which she looked again; but as for the professor, he went on his way unmindful, humming roundelay under his breath, and holding his head high in the air. But when he came back again, luncheon was not quite ready, Miss Winthrop had not come, and nothing would do but he must know why he had found those fool. ish tears in my eyes that morning. Ut was Mss Winthrop" he said. "You need not try to sheild her. I know her, to my cost. She is arrogant. she Is without heart; she has said that which has cut thee tn tha snill- 7 fyUnsense, professor" said, quite of i my guard. 'sIt was only that made a stupid mistake in Miss Van Coot's basque. She has to be padded all the way up the left shoulder.

 1 ssGott in Himmelr' cried the professor; and then saw my imprudence. ''It is nothing, I said. "when one can afford to have skillful dress-maker." But the professor leaned back in his chair and raised his hands to heaven. It l was only natural that he should consider 1 it terrible misfortune-he whose phisi- que was like that of Apollo Belvedere. ''She has lots of money" said. "A silver mine will not buy her a new spine" said the professor.

 E. s'It will serve to make her own very pre- sentable, rejoined; s'and, besides, she I is so good and kind. "Ah," he said, heaving sigh from the bottom of his lungs; ''that is better than all. She is honest, perhaps. and truth l ful. 1t least she.will not, perhaps, lie, as lyon Americans say, as fast as. the horse | will trot. She will not prom1se to sit at l your table at certain hour, and then go away and give no further thought to the matter. There are some people whose l spines may be all that Is desirable, but

 their hearts, my gracious Fraulein, they are black to the core"

 | It was too bad that Helen did not come as she had promised, The professor did

 not fully get over his disappointment till

 he came to the pudding which was for

 tunately as near perfection as pudding

 can be-

 His eyes grew less ferocious as he dal-

 lied with the fiaky puffs, the fierce lines

 about his mouth gave way, generous,

 benignant expression gradually beamed l upon his face.

 l "And then," at last he said to me,

 ''thou hast not. only the spine without

 blemish, but the heart and the soul ! Whatever thou undertakest to do. is

 done wisely and we'll. Gesegnete Mahl l zeit. may the meal be blessed to thee! II

 thou wouldst be saint in heaven, contin.

 ue to be good Hausfrau upon the

 earth"

 l Thanks to the pudding, he went upon

 his way rejoicing. When Helen came,

 it was soggy and ruined; but Helen was

 not very hard to please. A bit of toast, a

 poached egg morsel of any sort, par.

 ticularly in the Lenten season, was all she would ask.

 When I told her of the professors dis | pleasure, she laughed in that mocking,

 musical way of hers: but l. thought there

 was latent tenderness, in it's ring, and

 there was a melting look in her great

 black eyes, tremulous sweetness about

 her mouth, that made me look her aga1n, | NuO COuAA WC0A O LOAAdu It'll AAOIO SLdCc

 than any one I ever saw; and just the lit.

 tie ruff1e of cashmere laceabout her neck, 1 and the two creamy roses well down upon her hat, made her like some beautiful pic. l ture.

 It was fully fortnight before the pro- l lessor came again to stay any time. He

 was very busy. Miss Van Coot had not 1 only prevailed upon him to take her as

 pupil, but he had consented to manage l a musicale for her at her house on the 1 Avenue.

 | Miss Aan Coot and the professor seem.

 ed to get on very we'll together. One l morning that l went there to fit some

 trimmings upon the white corded silk I

 was making for her musicale, found the professor reading to her his translation oi

 a tragedy from the German. Once in a

 while he would appeal to her judgement

 in the formation of sentence, and al

 though she would pause to criticise, she

 invariably agreed with his version in the

 end. So that he began to talk to me ot Miss Van Coot as he had formerly of Rel- en-. ss *5:

 And the night of the musicale, to which I did not go-Miss Van Coot, in her kind

 way, invited me, but it was not expected

 that would accept the invitation-that

 night Miss Van Coot looked very we'll in-

 deed, went to arrange her dress before

 the entertainment, and really Miss Van l Coot looked almost handsome. The ex.

 citement had lighted up her heavy face,

 and although it was risk, never had

 better luck with anything than had with

 that corded silk polonaise. Miss Van

 Coot was so pleased with it that she was

 kind enough to send me home in her car

 iiage, and the professor whispered, as he l bade me good-by, ''Thou hast done mar

 velously we'll: nobody would know but

 that her two sides were cast in the same

 mould" So that the professor seemed

 very we'll pleased with Miss Van Coot

 and I feared more and more for my poor

 Helen's happiness. As the days went by,

 there seemed almost spell upon ner, and I would only have been too glad to have

 her make fun in her old way of some oi

 the people about us, or hear her laugh,

 began vaguely to feel that she was chang l ed, and watched her at times with fret I ful curiosity, and again with touching

 tenderness. She began to be to him like

 a well-behayed child; she bore his sneers ] and revilings so meekly; she played to his order and sang for him without complaint

 the classical music which she professed to

 al omina'e; nor did she finish by galloping

 of into some extravaganza of her own

 The professor became more and more un-

 easy and perplexed. He ceased to talk of

 Miss Van Coot. He tramped to and fro ihs length of the rooms, muttering to him. self. sometimes turning impatiently upon

 his heel and walking out of the house. One night they sat together, Helen and f the professor in my Dleasank DarlOr

 The fiat which I rented was next door to

 1 big asylum up town, so that the grounds by which it was surrounded gave us the

 advantage of side windows. from which

 we could look over across the river. The

 full moon was climbing up into the sky;

 2 few timid stars were faintly glowing

 there; the air had already the delicious

 languor of early summer; and Helen was

 beautiful. Her simple white robe of In

 dia muslin with only some narrow Valen- ciennes on the founces, had a better ef- feet somehow than Miss Van Coot's new corded silk