Year: 1874

Florence Reed was little fool, and
Julia Willis, her cousin, it was who called
her so. You can judge between them if
you like; it is story that will not take
long in the telling.


Florence--or Florry, for nobody ever
dreamed of calling her anything else
Florry Reed was not in the least what one
would call beauty but then she had
the softest eyes and the sweetest lips i'm
the world. Something at least to that
effect Charley Dennis had been heard to
declare, and it is very much to be be-
lieved that he spoke as one who should
know on this subject.


while; lovers in the bud, as one may say,
and everybody knows that the bud is the
sweetest part of the whole blossom-sea-
son. The practical, commonplace stage
of declaration had not yet been reached
it was the time of broken hints and
secret hand pressures, of stolen kisses,
and general felicity. Florry walked on
air, and forgot that it was not her native
element, till one unlucky day the clouds
melted under her feet, and let her down
to earth again with rude thump.


1t was the day of celebration given
in Blackville to commemorate some event
perfectly uninteresting to the world at
large, but of the very last importance in
the eyes of the Blackvillians. For,
though Blackville was little place, its
inhabitants were men and women very
much like other people, and measured
the universe on the Blackville yardstick
after the orthodox and proper fashion.


The festivity, beginning with an ora
ton, ended with picnic in grove just
outside of the town, magnificent maple
grove, whose violet-scented solitudes it
was almost sin to profane with the clat-
ter of hardware and the popping of gin
GERBER corks. Charley Dennis and
Florry were there together, as they were
together everywhere. But unfortunately
for Florry, Miss Adela Brent was there
also.


This young lady was not Blackville
born. She came from a much larger
town which would have turned up its
nose very high indeed at poor little Black
vile, had it happened to be aware of its
existence at all. For which reason, the
Blackvillians naturally looked with ad-
miring awe upon it and all that pertained
to it. Miss Adela, then, being visitor
Just arrived among them, her debut was
an event second only to the great event
commemorated by the day.


She was not prettier than half their
own girls there at present, but she was
wholly unlike them in dress and style
i'm a word, she was something new; and
if novelty is one of the greatest of all
charms anywhere, it certainly is not the
least in so small a country town where 9
wholesome fear of his neighbor holds
each in decent restraint. So all eye,
were fastened on the stranger, when at {
rather late hour she made her appearance,
on the ground, which in nowise discom
posed her. She settled herself and foun
ces, gave final toss of the frizzy wilder
ness surmounting her little head, ant
turning back her fanparasol, looked
around her with much the air with which
a atraveler, stranded among savages, nigh
observe their barbarous costumes.


The first of the natives on whom hel
glances chanced to rest were Florry ant
Charley, and she vouchsafed them pro
longed examination under which Florry'
eyes fell and her color rose whereupol
Adela who had already mentally inven
toried her as pretty, but deplorably with
out style, regarded her anew with amused
compassion as girl who could actual.
blush for being looked at.


Charley did not blush, though. On tn
contrary, he returned the gaze with on
which might have abashed some girls
But Miss Brent was young lady no
easily abashed, and if the very eviden
admiration in the handsome savage
black eyes affected her in any way, !
was certainly neither TO embarrass no
offend her. That was plain from tn
manner in which she received his ad
vances later; else the two would no
have made so rapid an acquaintance, no
have been missing, when, by and BY
a stroll through the groves was proposed
10 that Florry was obliged to put u
with the escort other cousin Fred Willis
necessity considerably more agreeabl
10 him than to her.


Oh, what a cloudy ending for da
that had begun all sunshinel Florr