Year: 1876

hand grasped her shoulders so harshly
that she almost cried out, and Bellies
voice said, in fierce whisper


$50 straight up stairs to bed, miss
do you hear me? Go this instant;' and
each pause was emphasized with good
shake


ooh, Belle"


'tHush not word aloud. You have
been making yourself ridiculous and I
and mamma are ashamed of you. Go
straight round the piazza and up stairs.


Christy never thought of disobeying.
Her rose-colored visions all foated away
and she went slowly around the house
and up the back way to her little room.
There she sat down in the moonlight,
with wide eyes and burning cheeks. Oh
what had she done2 And finally all her
wondering resolved itself in o bitter
burst of crying.


When Belle came up stairs, after the
last guest had gone, and looked in her
sisters room, Christy was lying acros
the foot of the bed, asleep, her pretty
dress all crumpled and her checks stain
ed with tears. So her indignation did
not break upon Christy's head till morn
ing, at the breakfast table, when her
piqued pride sought revenge. Poor
Christy before the meal was through
she saw herself forward, pert, bold
chit, at whom Mr.. Ross had laughed in
his sleeve, and Of whose simplicity he
had made capital.


eff you could have seen yourself
whirling around with that silly smile,
and he playing mock-devotion p


'sDid he say anything about me,
Belle ?''


"Bah why should he? We had bet
ter things to talk about" said her sister,
with little conscious toss of her head.


Why need I tell you of the days that
followed? Surely every girl will under
stand the change that came over Christy's
schoolgirl life. Why say that her cheeks
grew pale, that she had frequent fits of
crying, and that the very mention of Mr..
Ross's name brought guilty flush to
her cheeks? She would not have met
him for the world, and it would have
been hard to calculate how many times
she avoided him on the street; yet eve
ming after evening she waited, and hop.
ed he would come. The evening after
the party he had come. She heard him
ask for her in the hall, and heard Belle
say, with laugh, that 'sthese school
girls always were deep in study even
mgs." Then, crouched in the dark, af-
ter David had been put to bed, she lis
tened to his rare tenor voice as he sang
song after song, his notes blending with
Iioelle's, his laugh mingling with hers.
What fool she had been she drearily
thought, as she closed the French gram
mar, whose leaves were wet with tears,
and crept to bed. He was BeIle's beau,
that was all.


But after that evening he did not
come, which was strange for Bellies
beau. Nay, more his lady mother men
toned, in the course of call, that they
would return to New York in the middle
of October.


"We have staid in the country much
longer than usual this year." she con-
tinued, ''and I wish could persuade
Charlton to go to the city at once"


HE wants to stay on Bellies account,
mused Christy ''but I wonder he does
not come and see her."


One thing was certain-Belle was un-
usually cross so cross that Christy was
fain to do her studying out-of-doors or
locked in her own room. A little sum-
mer-house covered with vines was her
favorite retreat, and thither she repaired
every afternoon upon returning from
school. She had no more river expedi-
tions, for, poor child, she was afraid of
meeting the proprietor of the scarlet
wherry. But perhaps the secret of her
liking the summer house was because
she could see the aforesaid wherry pass
and repass, and watch the rover from



Two weeks passed. Then crisis came.
One Indian summer afternoon, when
Belle and her mother were out calling,
Christy was having romp with the dog
on the side piazza. In the midst of this
romp she was Mortified to perceive Mr..
Ross entering the street gate. Her first
impulse was to run away but knowing
that he had seen her, there vas nothing
for it but to meet him with flaming
cheeks and disordered attire. The dark
eyes that had haunted her waking and
sleeping dreams SO long were Lit by
merry smile.


"Why, Miss Christy, if I had not just
shaken hands with you I should have
supposed you myth, % he said, with one
of his bright laughs. "What are you
going to say to me in excuse for running
away q fortnight ago and keeping away
ever since? Do you know you robbed
me of five waltzes ~


'sI-I-Belle-tha is, mamma [
mean I couldn't stay. And you danced
the waltzes, you know"


'sIndeed [ didn't. I searched for you.
Not finding you, [ sat still the rest of the |
evening. Then the next night [ came
over to let you apologize, and you would
not come down to see me. I tried to see
you on the street, and you always van
ished. Now what have I done ?'' asked |
the pet of society, looking sincerely puz-
zled.