Year: 1873

And then she caught herself sing
ing such fatal words, and shivered
and laughed, and went to the glass to
pluck away the flower he had hung in
her hair, and took it and kissed it
again, and sat down on the little OF
toman there, her face on her knees,
sobbing and crying to herself, "Oh, L
am so happy so happy 7"


As for me, L was not always poor
old maid in a boarding house. Once |
was eighteen, and gay and with good
expectations myself; and then / had
friends, and they were among such
people as these Howes-and some OF
them were the Howes-the aunts and
uncles of Randolph himself. II they
were not friends now, they still were
acquaintanees; and though L said
nothing about it at home, where Rosa s
sensitive ears might suffer, l had
heard all the gossip in the circle OF the
Howes concerning Randolph's last
flame, as they called it. They called
it so to make light of it-indeed, it
was no joking matter. Randolph in
reality had never been known to have
q flame before.


or course his four superciliOus sisters
and their mamma had curved their
contumelious lips, and been exceeding
ly disgusted over the whole affair.
'EThe idea" they said, "Of Randolph,
after all his career, his birth and edu-
cation, his life abroad, being fascina-
ted by tho face of little girl standing
in q church porch and waiting for a
shower to pass, and offering her the
shelter of his umbrella, and following
her up till he found some one to pre-
sent him, and then absolutely succum-
bing to her vulgar wiles! Fresh and
innocent. As if there were no girls
in his own set that were fresh and
innocent! She was an artful MINK
nothing but artifice could have captur-
ed Randolph, with all his experience
And If he did not recover himself be-
fore Hortensia Brooks came, they
should be in despair )" and so it ran
on.


Well, the night that Rosa sang the
little song which 1 repeated to you,
Hortensia came. And when he went
home he found her there. Perhaps he
was magnetised-but he stood there,
dumb and dazZled.


And you would not wonder if you
had seen Hortensia as she was then
the largest, most luxuriant type OF
womanhOOd, superb and regal flesh
nodded everywhere into perfect
curves fruity bloom on the cheek,
a melting redness of the lip; features
fit for marble, brown eyes that SEEM
ed to burn q smile that harmoniZed
the face like sunlight, and made con-
quest of you az once; hair that crown
ed the whole in braided gold, and a
laugh that rippled like passage OF
sweetest music whose thread you
had hardly caught. She was some
thing not to be seen twice in life
time her beauty was of the sort that
is given to one person out of a whole
generation old men took off their
hats in the streets when she passed
along. Toher beauty was added anoth-
er gift-she sang like a siren, and her
wealth was almost fabulous.


She was singing when Randolph
stool in the dOOr-ah how different
ly, he might well have thought, from
the thin, faint tones of little Rosa's
voice, Just heard rich, full, power.
full music that delighted the inmOst
sense. She sang for him till after
midnight. The next day he rode with
her-his mother and sisters demand
ed that attention to their guest. The
next day they had no need of de-
manding it.


Perhaps he was proud to be seen the
esquire of such dame perhaps the
sumptuOus beauty stimulated his
somewhat jaded sense perhaps his
sybaritic soul reveled in the pleasure
of such neighborhood, the touch OF
such a hand, the sound of such q
voice. The first he knew of it all was
when, one day, having been Tapped in
| this elysium week, as she swept by
her gown brushed his arm, and sent 8
shiver thrilling him from head 10
foot. Then he was in dream, be-
meath spell f; he forgot all about the
little white colOrless creature to whom
/ he had once made such a sacred vow
! that pale flame burnt unseen against
the grest blaze Of red sunshine here,


He hardly left Horteusia's side all
the animal delight in luxury and pas
sion within him rose and swept him
1 forward. He had intellect enough I'M
blinded to direct 1t in the way he
would, to become power before her
and above her, to fasten her thought
and fancy as she had fastened his, to
make himself the master. And two
months from the time when he went
home and found her singing that lus-
cious Italian song he married Horton
/ sia.


In all those weeks he never came
near Rosa II he ever thought of bel
be may have felt throb of pity, but
he could not, and would not, pause ol
turn. The timid note she sent him
when she feared lest he were ill, wa:
tossed aside unopened. Indeed,
think that, for the time being, hi
was just and simply man. AT las
when | saw my little Rosa's wonde
lpsss into dlsmay, when l saw he