Year: 1873

[, oHN v lhLH, -.
upon which he most delighted to discourse.
From morning to night he was at his desk in
his office, and Immediately upon his return
home at night, the light Of his countenance
would be eclipsed by some commercial news
paper, behind which he remained until bed
time, diligently pouring over its contents.


At supper-the only meal indulged in at
home-it was the same thing. Mrs. Gray
would place a cup of coffee before him, and
the irrepressible merchant would Immediate
ly make some remark about the last quota
ton of coffee. "Help yourself to some of
these delicious biscuits, sir" Theodore would
say; and Mr.. Robertson would plunge his
fork into the dish, and, holding up one Of the
biscuits and viewing it with critics eye
for while, ask


"Do you remember the date Of our last
shipment of flour p


Little Alice, at the foot of the table, would
say, "Please, papa, give me one baked quite
brown"


"By the by, Theodore" Mr.. Robertson
would suddenly sing out, hastily rolling the
brownest biscuit down to the foot fthe table,
"was Browns account made out? ?"


And so it was at every meal taken at home;
so it was from morning to night, and from
year in to year out. Business, business, busl'
ness, and nothing but business.


Under these circumstances, is it to be won
dered at that Theodore should have expe'
rienced real delight upon the advent in the
household of beautiful young girl, about his
own age? Is it anything at all surprising
that pretty Lizzie Gray should have become
an object of intense INTEREST," to him? Is there
anything criminal in the fact, that the young
couple should take advantage Of Mr.. Robert
sons eclipse behind the newspaper, and draw
their chairs closer together by the freside?


So it was, anyhow.


"And did they fall in love with each other?'
methinks I hear a score of my lady readers
ask. Read on, and judge for yourselves.


Since that frosty November afternoon that
Mrs. Gray and her daughter arrived at the
Robertson Mansion, Theodore never absented
himself from the domestic circle after his re-
turn from business Before her arrival, ne
was out almost every evening in the week
and seemed utterly disgusted with his home
since his mothers death. Prior to Lizzie's
arrival he was singularly careless about his
dress or personal appearance generally; but,
since then he became as neat and genteel IN
dress as one could possibly wish. To answer
in person the silvery summons of the dinner
bell, without Encouragement of his neck tie,
was now utterly out of the question. To rush
unceremoniously into Lizzie's presence, with
out second and searching look into the mir,
ror and another twrl of his moustache, was
what he dared not venture to do. All this
may have been nothing more than the effect
of very natural desire to make prepossess'
ing Appearances desire to look well. AS
all men like to look we'll before those whose
good opinion they covet, the fact of Theodore
attempting the same thing does not necessarl,
ly prove that he was in love.


But What did he mean by writing "Lizze"
all over the walls of his room and upon eve,
ry surplus scrap of paper in his fathers Of
flee }? What could he have been thinking
about when he wrote all manner of incorrect
entries in the day-book and ledger, and drew
kissing doves and clasped hands all over his
pocket memorandum book? What possible
cause can be assigned to his habit of invarla-
bly, stopping at the confectioners on his way
home; of always slipping a little package
very secretly into Lizzies hand when he met
her in the hall alone?


That ccaseless walking to and fro about
his room, long after the family had retired
for the night, certainly signi6ed something.
The long fits of mental abstraction, the ever
increasing gravity Of manner, the constant
6xity of gaze upon Lizzie, when present, and
his dependency Of spirits at her going-all
this was but the running title to the story
written upon the inmost pages of his heart.


Lizzie colored to the very roots Of her gol'
den tresses if his name was mentioned in her
presence. She was sprightly and happy when
the sound of his voice was upon her ear, and
very silent and sad after the good bye was
spoken. Toward the hour of his expected
return, she would try to look very pretty,
and-as far as her ability went-to conform
to his known taste in the arrangement of her
hair and the selection of her dresses. This
done, she would look first out Of the window,
then at the clock; then out of the window
again, until Theodore was seen to turn the
corner. Then, woman.like, she would snatch
up some article of needlework and sit afar of
from the window, and pretend to be hard at
work and not giving thought to Theodore.
And when he would rush eagerly into the
room and run his eyes hurried around him,
until they met the soft blue ones of Lizzie, she
would start to her feet and spring involuntari-
ly toward him, then sink back suddenly iu her
chair, with arms, neck anu face covered with
bushes


And now-after this hasty glance behind
the scenes-does the reader ask again, did
they love each other?


CHAPTER II.


'Into each life some rain must fall,