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Anna, too, was all eagerness to “ get out of the Vile thing and be somebody,” as she ex- pressed it, and so the bargain was closed, and Mrs. Lydia was to retire at once into the pri may and respectability of private life ; the ob- noxious sign was to be taken from the front window, and Miss Anna was to be merely the daughter of a grocer, which she consldered quite an ascent in the social scale. Mrs. Lydia did not wish to sell her house, nor Queenie to buy it, for though it was rather modern in style and well enough looking. there was nothing about it to indicate either taste or culture in its inmates. The grass was coarse and full of weeds, the yard was small and VUld of shade, except for the elm tree which grew outside the gate,‘and there were scarcely any flowers to be seen, except a clump of poppies and some four o'clocks. which flourished in spiie of neglect. Mis. Lydia was too husy to bother with flowers or yards, her husband had no taste for it, and Anna was too much afraid of soiling her hands. By m r-. Mary J. Holmes; author of “Tempest and Sunshine." ” Ethelyn’s Mistake,” “ Forrest House," etc. “ Needle pricks were bad enough, and she was not going to blacken and roughen her hands with dirt,” she said. and so the yard was utterly neglected, and. as Queenie thought. had in it no poetry, no sentimentâ€"nolhing like Margery. who was better suited to a charming little ccttage on Maple Avenue. which she heard was for sale, and whose owner she swooped down upon like a little hurricane. asking what his terms were, and if he would vacate at once. " You see. I want to get him out imme- diately, for I mean to make it just Ilka a palace for Margery.” she said to her grand- mother. who mid to restrain the reckless girl. telling her she was going on at a ruinous rate, and that of herself she could not transâ€" act business until she was of age. “ But Mr. Beresiord can transact it for me. and I shall be of age in the spring, and I shall have it.” she said; and she took Mr. Beresfoid by storm, and compelled him to make an arrangement whereby the cottage and her aunt’s business came into her pos- session. Then she wrote to her friend : “ You Dam om) DARLING Manual“ :â€"1 do know just how surprised and glad you were to hear that I was in America, for wasn’t I just as glad to know that my cousins’ Mar gery was mineâ€"any old precious, whom I love best of anybody in the world, now papa is dead. It is just like a story, isn‘t it ~ our being together in America? And, Margie. my grandmother is not that English duchess I used to talk so much about, but a real, live Yankee woman, of the very Yankiest kind. red, and fat. and good, and calls me Rennet, and wears purple glovesâ€"or she did until 1 coaxed her into some black ones, which she thinks are not very dressy. And you will like her ever so much, and you are coming to Meriivale to live at once, now, right away. 80, pack up your things as soon as you read this. 1 haVe bought that business for you of Mrs. Ferguson, who is my aunt. or rather the wife of my mother’s brother; and she has a daughter Anna, who is my cousin, and very stunning and swell. That last is slang. which I have learned in Amer.ca of Phil, who is an- other cousin. and a Ferguson, too; or rather,‘ his mother is, which is the same thing. There‘ are a great many Fei-gusons. you see; but then there are Fergusons, and Fergusons. But you will learn all this when you come. I have a pretty little cottage engaged, with a bit or fresh greensward in front, and the loveliest, old-iashioned garden at the side, with June pinks, and roses, and tiger lilies, and a nice bed of tansy. I like tansy, don’t you ? There was a much of it at dear old Chateau des Fleurs. Then there are two front rooms for the work, and a sitting and dining room back, with the kitchen. and three chambers com- municating with each other. One of these I shall tit up with blue for you ; it will just suit your lovely complexion and eyes ; the other is scarlet, for your mother. who is dark ; and the third -well, that is to be mine when I stay with you nights. as I intend domg often. But I can‘t have the same color as your mother, so I shall take pink, which will make me look just like a â€"â€" a â€" nigger That‘s another word I caught from Phil I wish he would come back. Tell him so. please. “ And now, Margery, won’t you come as soon as you can 2 And don’t go to acting silly about my getting the cottage and busiâ€" ness for you. It is only a. little bit of pay- ment on the big sum I owe you for that sacrifice you were ready to make for me. How erI I remember that day, and how plainly I can see your face as white as paper, and your ex es so pitiful and appealing as they looked at me, and yet so full of love. And I. the coward, shut my eyes, and clenched my fists. and said to myself just as last as I could. ' Nasty beast l nasty beast !' till the first blow tel]I which hurt me more than it did you, for it cut right into my conscience, and there has been at little smart there ever since, while your dear hand is just as white and fair as it that vile old man’s ferrule had never reddened and wounded it. Splen did old Margery ! I want to hug you this minute I “ And nowâ€"oh. Margie, don’t think I have forgotten papa, because I have not said more of him ; for I haven’t. and there is a thought of him and a little mom in my heart for him all the time. No matter what I'mdoing‘ or how guy I seem. I never forget. that. he is dead. and that there 3 nobody to love menuw but you, who seem so near to me. because you knew the 01d life at home now gone for ever. Answer at once, and say when I may expect you.” To this letter Margery replied within a. few do”, Ihanking Queenie for her generous in- terest. but saying she could not. accept so much from her ; she should come to Merri- vale with her mothtr as soon as they could arrange mattexs where they were, but she should insirt upon paying rent for the cottage, and also upon paying for the business. " I can do that in a shoxttime." she wrote. “ if I have work and I shall be happier to be indep rndent even of you, my darling. Be Bideap. I do not think the Bossizers and Fer ansons would like you to do so much for a stranger. I am noxhing to them, you know, except their dressmakerâ€"â€"’. “ I think her a very sensible girl. I could not re~pect her if she were willing to receive !0 much from you," Mr. Beresford said, when Queenie read him Margery’e letter ; where- upon Queenie flew into 9. passion. and said he did not underhtandâ€"did not appreciate the nature of the friendship between heraelf and Margery: adding that she should never tell Maryevy how much she paid her Aunt Lydia. and that she would never take any remâ€"- nef'er l and she should furnish the house her- Ie f. And she did, and. with Phil to help her after he came. she accomplished more at the cottage and at Hetherton place than any ten ordinary Women could have accomplished in the same length of time Every day she managed to spend two or three hours at the cottage. which, with plenty of money and perfect taste, was soon transformed into a little gem of a. house. It is true there was nothing expensive in the way of furniture. except the upright Steinwav. which Queenie insisted upon; but everything was so well chosen and so artistically arranged, that the whole effect was like a lovely picture, and the villagers went to see it. and commented upon it. and wondered what this Margery could be that Miss Hetherton was doing so much for her. " She is only adressmaker, after all,” Miss Anna laid. WM: a toss of her golden head, as she sat in what had been her mother’s work room entertaining a w‘sitor and discussing the expected Margery. Anna had lost no time in removing the Sign from the window , and had even earned out. her mum of splitting and burning it up, thinking thus to wipe out a. past which she ioolishlg lhuug ht had been a disgrace, because of her ymother l honest labor. The woxk- room. too. had been diamantled of everything QUEENIE HETHERTON. pertaining to the ohioxious dressmaking, and Mrs. Lydia. deprived of her occupation. found the time hanging heavily upon her hands, for she had no taste for housekeeping. and could not at once interest herself in it. Besides, she missed the excitement of the people coming in and going out, and missed the gossip they brought. and almost every hour of her life repented that to gratify her daughter she had been persuaded to give up her business aAnd set up for a lady. Anna. on the contrary, enjoyed it im- mensely. and held her head it good deal higher, and frizzed her hair more than ever, ‘ and were her best dresscs every day, and spoke slightingly of Margery La Rue as only a dressmeker, and told half a. dozen of the neighbors, confidentially, that she thought her cousin Beinette feet and queer, though she supposed it was the French of her, to go on as she did, with Phrl and Ldr. Beresford both of whom were making fools of themsrlves. For her part she could see nothing attractive in her whatever, except that she was bright. and witty, and small, and tall men, as a rule, l’ked little women. To Queenie herself, however. she was sweetness itself, and as the latter never heard of her ill-natured remarks, there was a. show of friendship between the two girls, and Anne. was frequently at Hetheiton Place, where the envy of her nature funnd ample food to eed upon. as she contrasted Reinette’s surroundings with her own. For three or four years Merrivale had boasted of a weekly paper, and in the column of " Personals" the cit Zens read one ’Ihurs- day morning that the Rossiters were coming home on Friday, and that Mrs. and Miss La Rue, the French ladies who were to succeed Mrs. Fergu~ou in her business, were also ex pected on that day. Everybody was glad the Rossiters were coming. for Merrivale was a]. ways gayer and brighter when they were home. as they were hospitable people. and em tertained a great deal of company. Usually they brought guests with them, but this time no one was coming, Phil said. except a cousin of his father'sâ€"an old bachelor, who rejoiced in the high-sounding name of Lord Seymour Rossiter. though to do him justice he usually signed himselt Major L. S. Rossiter, as he had once been in the army. He was very rich. Phil said, and rather goodâ€"looking, and he laughingly bade Queenie be prepared to surrender at once to his charms. But Queenie cared little for Lord Rossiter, or any other lord just then. All her thoughts and inter- ests Were centered in the one fact that Mar- gery was coming, and she spent the whole of Friday morning at the cottage seeing that everything was in readiness. and literally fill. in it with flowers from her garden and green- house. “ Oh, if I were only rich, how I would pay people 013'," she thought, and then she re- doubled her attentions to Mr. Beresford, who, though he had never been within her reach, drimd further and further away as he became more and more interested in the little lady of Hethenon. “I wish her to have a. good first impres- sion," she said to Phil. who was with her as she Inspected the rooms for the last time be- fore going home to the early dinner she had qrdered that day, so as to be at the station in tune. The train was due at six o'clock, and afew minutes before the houmhe Rossiter carriage with Phil in it. and the Hetherton carriage with Reiuette in it, drew up side by side at the rear of the depot. Reinette was full of excitement and expect- ation, and made a most lovely picture in her black drrss of some soft, gauzy material, with knots of‘dcuble‘faced scarlet and cream rib- bons twisted in with the bows and loops of salin- a. scarlet tip on her black but, and a. mass of white illusion wound round it and fflftt ned beneath her chin with a. cluster of beautiful pansies. Phil thought her perfectly charming as she walked restlessly up and down the platform waiting for the first sound which should herald the approaching train. It came at last â€"a low whistle in the distance, growing eraduallv louder and shriller until the train shot under the bridge, and the great engine puffid and groaned a moment at the station and then went on its way, leaving two dis- tinct groups of people to be stared at by the lookers- -on. One, the Rossiters and the mid- dle- aged bund- boxv- looking man, dressed in the extreme of fashion, with eye- glasses on his nose and a little slender cane in his hand, which he twisted nervously, while, with the other members of his party. he looked cu- riously at the second group farther down the platform â€"the three French ladies,who spoke their native tongue so volubly and were so demonstrative and expressive in their ges- tures and tones. Mrs. La Rue was in black. with a strange expression on her face and in her glittering eyes as she watched the two young girls. ' Th3 vmoment Margery aligbted Beinette had precipimted hexself into her arms, ex clamping: " You dear old precious Margie ! you have come at last," while kiss after kiss was showered upon the fair faced girl, wk; 59 golden hair gleamed brightly in the sunlight, and w’hose blue eyes were full of tears as she returned the greening. H I think you are Mrs. La. Rue; add 11m happy to meet you. because you brmg me Margie." 7 Suddenly remembering Mrs. La. Rue, Queenie turned toward her. and, ofieriug her hand. very cordially, utterly ignored the fact that she had ever seen her befOIe by saying : " Thanks. You are very kind," Mrs. La Rue leplit d, With a tone which a stranger might have thought cold and constrained but let the face, which had something eager and almost hungry in its expxesziun. as the great black eyes were rivaled upon Queenie, whose hand the woman held in a tight, close clasp until it was wrencbed away, as the girl turned next to the Rossiters. -‘ Wait, Margie," sheaaid,in passing. “Our carriage is here. and I am going to take you to your {new home." Then hurrymg on, she came up to her aunt, and cousins. and the major, who had been watching her curiously. and mentally commenting upon her. But when she came toward them, her head erect. her cheeks flushed. and eyes shining like diamonds. and seeming almost to speak as they danced, and laughed and sparkled, they changed their minds. and when the great team came with a rush as she threw herself into Mrs. Rossiner’e arms, exolaimmg, “ 0h, auntie. I am going to love you so much and you must. love me with all my faults, for I‘ve neither father nor mother now.” they espoused her cause at once, and never for a moment wavered in their allegiance to her. Giving each of them a Iraniandkissing them warmly. she said, laughinglv : “ Quite too much sentiment and gush for me. I like more mnrner; more di nity,” he thought, while Mrs. Rossiter saw only her sister’s child, and Ethel and Grace felt a little disaopoinud Wlth regard to the beauty. of which they had heard so much. “ You are all alike, aren’t you? tall and fair, and blusheyedâ€"ao different from me, who am nothing but a little black midget." “ That’s the Ferguson of with a meaning smxle, which to his sisters‘ cheeks, and laugh, as she rammed 2 “OI, wish I were a Ferguson than, i! thai would make me white." “ A danced pretty girl, after all,” the major thought. as she beamed of: him her brightest smile when Phll introduced her, and then the parties separated, and returning to Margery. Queenie lead her in triumph to the carriage, while Mrs. La. Rue followed after them. ” Do you remember the first time you ever rode with me 1’" she said to Margery as the carriage went slowly up 1.118 10112 hill which lead from the station to'Qhe town. “I surely can never forget it, for all the happinou I have over known dates from ABEXVALS IN ME RRIVALE. CHAPTER XX. us.” Phil said, brought a flush made Queenie 1 “ Forgive me, Queenie, and let me call you ‘onoe by that pet name ; let me kneel before Qyou. andâ€"and thank you for all you have done for us -{or Margery and me. God bless ‘you, Queenie! God bless you l" that ride,” Margery said, and Reinette con- tinued : “ How little we thought then that we should one day meet in America, and that I should be as glad to see you as if you were my sister ;"and she reached forward and gave Margery’s hand a loving squeeze, by way of emphasis. Mrs. La Rue’s black gauze vail was drawn closely over her face, but both girls caught a sound like a. suppressed sigh, and turning to her, Margery said : “ I belie€e mother is homesick, and pin- ing for Ffonce ; she seems so low spirited._” “ Oh. I hope not. America is a. great deal better than France, and Merrivale is best of all,” Queenie said, glancing at Mrs. La Rue, and noting for the first time how pale and tired she looked, noticing. too, that she was all in black, though not exactly in mourning. " She has lost some friend, perhaps,” she thought, and then chatted on with Margery, unmindful ef the woman who learned weaiily hack among the soft cushions of the luxuri- ous can-iageâ€"Frederick Henherton’s car- riage, in which she was riding with his daughter and her. At the touch of those cool, slender fingers and the sound of the pitying voice, Mrs. La Rue gave way entirely. and grasping both Queenie’s hands, covered them with tears and kisses ; then, slipping from her chair and kneeling before the astonished girl, she grasped her dress, and said : “ Mother, mother, pray get up ; you frighten Miss Hetherton l” Margeiy said. coming quickly forward, and guessing. from the expression of Queenie's face, that so much demonstration was distasteful to her. “ You are tired and nervous ; let me take you up stairs," she continued, as she led the unresisting woman to her room, Where she made her lie down upon the couch. and then went back to Queenie, who was standing in the door-way and beating her little foot im- patiently. as she thought : Of what was she thinking 1’â€"~the tired, sad woman, as the carriage wound up the hill, across the common, past the church where Margaret Ferguson used to say her prayers, and past the yellowish-brown house which Queenie pointed out as her Aunt Lydia’s, and where, on the door-step, arrayed in blue and white muslin, with a knot of black lace at her throat. Anna sat fanning herself. rejoic- ing that she was now a grocer’s daughter. It would be hard to fathom hcl‘ thoughts, which were straying far back over the broad, dark gulf Which lay between the present and the days of her girlhood. And yetnothing escaped her, from Anna Ferguson on the doorstor to the handsome house and grounds at the knoll, which Queenie said was her Aunt Ros- siter‘s house ; but when at last the cottage was reached, and she alighted from the carâ€" riage, she was so weak and faint that Margery led her into the house, and even Queenie was alarmed at the death‘like pallor of her face, and stood by her while Margery hunted through the bags for some restorative. “ You are very tired. aren’t you 17" Queenie said, kindly, to her, at the same time laying her hand gently upon her head, for her bon- net had been removed. “ I wonder what makes that woman act so 7 The first time I ever saw her she stared M me as if she would (at me up ; and just. now there was positively something frightful in her eyes as she looked up at me ; and she on her knees before me, too, as if she could not thank me standing. as Margery does. They are so unlike ; and much as I love the daughter, I cannot love the mother.” Just here Margery appeared, apologizing for her mother, who, she said. was wholly overcome with all Queenie's kindness to them. “ Yes, I know. I do it for you,” Queenie said a lnttle petulamly. for she did not care at all if Margery knew of her aversion to her mother. It was time now for her to go if she would see her cousins, and promising Margery to look in upon her in the morning and bring her a. pile of dresses which needed repairing she entered her carriage, and was driven to the Knoll, where the family were just sitting down i0 supper. - Taking aseat with them, Queenie talked, and laughed, and sparkled, and shone, until the room seemed full of her,and the bewilder- ed major could have sworn there were twenty pairs of eyes flashing upon him insteadof one while Ethel and Grace held their breath and watched her as the expression of her bright face changed with every new gesture of her hands and turn of her head. “ She is so bright and beautiful. and dif- ferent from anything We ever saw,” they thought. while Mrs. Roesiter, though no less fascinated than her daughters, was conscious of efeeling of disappointment because she could discover no resemblance to her sister in her sister’s child. She wee unmistakably a Hetherton, though with another, a foreign look in her dark face and wonderful eyes which puzzled Mrs. Rosaiter as she sat watch- ing her with constantly increasing interest, and listening to her guy badinage with Phil and the major, the latter of whom seemed half afraid of her, and was evidently ill at ease when her eyes alighted upon him. “ I shall expect you to dine with me to- morrow at six o‘clock. It is to be a. family paxty, but Major Roasiter is included in the Invitation. I am going now to ask grand~ me, and Aunt Lydia. Will you go with me, Phil. Supper being bver Réinette 5.1056 to go,snyv ing t9 [legaunts and cousjps : They found grandma Ferguson weeding her flower bowlers in front of her house. with her cap and collar offiand her spotted calico dress open at the throat. “ It was too hot to be harnessed up with fixin’s," she said, and when Reiuette, who did not like the looks of her neck, suggested that a collar or rufile did not greatly add to one’s discomfort in warm weather and gave a finish to one’s dress. she replied: “Law, child, it don’t matter an atom what I wear. Evervbody knows Peggy Ferguson,” Reinette gave a little deprecating shrug and then de- livered her invitation. which was accepted at once, grandma saying, “she should come early so as to have a good visit before dinner. though she presumed Mary and the gels wouldn’t be there till the last minit.” Reinette gave another expressive shrug. and declining her grandmother‘s offer of “ spoons or any kind of garden sass she might want. for dinner,” drove next. to her Aunt. Lydia’s, where she found that lady seated in the parlor with a. tired look on her face as if doing nothing did notagree with her. “ She'd enough sight rather work her fingers off and know she was earnin money than to be sittin’ round like this,” she said a, dozen times to Anne, who enjoyed the sitting round, and whom Reinette found drumming the old worn- out piano which. having been second-hand when it. was bought, was something dreadful to been. " Oh, Phil, you here ?” she said. turning on the music stool. “ I was going by and by to see the girls. I hope they are well. Who was that daudyishlooking old man with them, sitting up as straight as a ramrod, with eye- glasses on his nose? Have they picked up u been somewhere ”I” Phil explained that the dandyish-looking old man was his father’s cousin, Major Lord Seymour Rossiter, from New York, where he had for twenty years occupied the same rooms at the same hotel. In her heart Beinette cared but little whether her uncle came at not. His presence would add nothing to her dinner; but some- thing in Anna’s manner awoke within her a. spixit of opposition, and sent her to the grocery where her Uncle Tom 501d codfish, and molasses, and eggs, and where she found him in his shirt-sleeves, seated upon a barrel outside the door, smoking a tobacco pipe. He " Oh, yes, I’ve heard of him ; rich asa Jew, and an old bach.” Anna. said. “ Yes, I'll come to dinner, Queenie. and mother, too, I suppose, but I’ve no idea. you‘ll get father thereâ€"be doesn’t like visiting mpch.” did not get up. nor stop his smoking, except as he was obliged to take his pipe from his mouth while he talked to Reinette, who gave him the invitation, and urged his acceptance as warmly as if the success of her dinner de- pended upon it. A True to her promise, Reinette drove round to see Margery the next morning, and carried a pile of dresses which scarcely needed a. stitch, but which she insisted should be changed, as she knew Margery needed work. She found her friend well and delighted with the cottage, which suited her in every par- ticular. Mrs. La Rue, too, was very calm and quiet, and only spoke to Reinette when spoken to, until the latter, in speaking of Hetherton Place and how lonely she was there at times. especially in the evening, when Phil was not ,with her, said: “ He was much obliged to her," he said, “ but he didn’t think he should go. He wasn’t used to the quality, and hadn’t eaten a meal of victuuls outside his own house in years, except at Thanksgivin' time, when he had to go to his mother’s.” “ And that 5 just the reason you’ll come to- -morrow, ’Queenie said, coaxingly. “ It 18 my first family pmty, and you will not be so uncivil as to refuse. I shall expect you With- out fail,” and with a. smile and flash of her eyes. which stirred even staid Tom Ferguson 11 little, Reinette drove away, saying to Phil, who was going to ride home with her and then walk back to the Knoll. I hope he w1ll come, for I could see that Anna did not wish him to. Such airs as she has taken on since she split up that sign and quit the business, as she terms it ! Does she suppose it is what one does which makes the lady 7 Oh. Phil, why is there such a difierence between people of the same blood ? There’s your mother, as cultivated and refined as if she had been born a. princess, and there’sAnna. and grand- ms, and Uncle Tom Is it American democracy ? If so, I’m afraid I don’t like 1t ;" and, leaning back in the carriage, Rein- ette looked very sober, while Phil said. good- humoredly. H I am going to hunt up my old nurse, who was With mother when she died. She is alive, I am ' sure. and somewhere in England or France. I shall have her come to live with “ In rebellion against the Fergusons again, I see. It will never do to go against your family; blood is blood, and there’s no get- ting ml of it, or of us." Phil promised, and as they had reached Hetherton Place by this time, and it was be. ginning to grow dark, he bade her good- night, and walked ra'fwidly back to the Knoll. “ I have no wish to be rid of you, but I may as well confess it, [do wish mother had been somebody besides a Ferguson.” Reinebte re- plied ; then added laughingly : “ Don’t think me a monster-â€"I can’t help the feel- ing ; it was born in me, and father fosteled it; but I am trying to overcome it. you see, for haven’t I invited them all to dinner? You must come early, Philâ€"very early, so as ‘60 help nae through." Mrs. La Rue was standing with her back to Reinette. picking the dead leaves from a pot of carnations, but she turned suddenly, and facing the girl‘ sald quickly : “ Bettei leavé the nursé whére she is; you will be happier without her." “ I don’t know why you should say that," Reinette retorted, in a. tone which showed her irritation that Mrs. La Rue should presume to dictate ; “ you certainly can know nothing of Chiistine Bodine.” “ Of course not, but I know that old nurses do not often add to the happiness of young ladies like you, so leave her alone; do not try to find her," Mrs. La Rue replied, and there was a ring in her voice like a note of fear which Reinette would have detected hid she been at all suspicious. But she was only resentful and answered, proudly, “ I shall certainly find her if I can," with a few directions to Margery with regard to the dresses. she drove away to order some necessary articles for her dinner, which she meant to make a success, it substantials and delicacies, and smsand cut glass, and» flowers and the finest linen could make it so. As the new summer house on the plateau was not yet completed, the table was laid on the broad piazza overlooking the river and town beyond and everything was in readiness by the time Grandma Ferguson arrived, for true to her promise, she came early, and 1n her sprigged muslin and lavendar ribbons, was tanning herself in the large rocking-chair just as the clock was striking four. She had tried, she said to bring LydiaAnn and Annie with her, but Annie had got some highfalut- in’ notions about not goin’ till the last minit; said it wasn’t etiquette, and so she presumed she wouldn’t come till the last gun was fired, but if she’s Reinette she wouldn‘t wait for her. Miss Anne was really putting on a great many airs and talking etiquette to her mother and grandmother until both were nearly crazy. She had been to the Knoll that morn- ing to call upon her cousins, both of whom were struck with the accession of dignity and stiffness in her manner, but never dreamed that the splitting up of the sign had anything to do with it ; they attributed it rather to the new and pretty muslin the young lady Wore and the presence of Major Rossiter, who was presented to her, and who, with a freak of fancy most unaccountable. surrendered to her at once. The major was fifty, and bald and gray, and near-sighted and peculiar, and though he admired pretty women, he had never been known to pay one more at. tention than was required of him as a gentle- man. He had thought his cousins, Ethel and Grace, very attractive and lady-like and sweet, while Reinette had taken his breath away with her flash and sparkle, but neither of the three had ever moved him as he was moved by Anna’s stately manner when she gave him the tip of her fingers and bowed so ceremoniously to him. The major liked a woman to he qoiet and dignified, and Anna’s stiffness suited him, and he ‘walked home with her and sat for half an hour in the parlor and talked with her of Europe, which she hoped one day to see, and sympathized with her when she deplored most eloquently the fate which tied her down to a little coun- try nlace like Merrivale, when she was by nature fitted to enjoy so much. But poverty was a hard master and ruled its subjects with an iron rod, she said, and there were tears in the blue eyes which looked up at the major, who felt a great pity for and interest in this girl so gifted, so dignified and pretty, for he thought her all these, and said to her atpart- ing that he hoped to see her later in the day at Hetherton Place, where he was going with the Rossiters. “ Who in thunder said I wanted to eat in my shirt sleeves,” Mr. Ferguson said. dogged, feeling intuitively that his daughter did not “ Are you sure you will enjey it ‘2” she said “ You know how long it is since you have been any where, and Reinette is very particular how her guests comport themselvesâ€"foolish- ly so, perhaps. You cannot eat in your shirt sleeves there, no matter how warm you may be.” After the major left her Anna sat down to think, and the result of the thinking was that though Major Rossiter was old, and tiresome, and fidgety, and not at all like Mr. Beresford or Phil. he was rich and evidently pleased with her, and she resolved that nothing should be lacking on her part to increase his interest in her and naake him believe that Whatever her surroundings were she was superior to them and worthy to stand on the high places of the land. She was ashamed of her father and mother, especially the former, and when at noon he asked What time the dinner was to come ofl. she felt a fear lest he might be intending to go as he was. Reinette’s eyes and manner when she gave the invitation had done their work with him. “ I really b‘lieve the girl wants me to come odd and homespun as I am,” he thought, and he made up his mind to do so, and Anna. felt a cold sweat oozing out from her finger tips as she wondered what Major Lord Rossiter would think of him. CHAPTER XXL THE DINNER . wish him to go, and feeling also determined that he would. And so it happened that simultaneously with the major, in his elegant dinner costume, with his white neck-tie and button~hole bou- quet. came honest Tom Ferguson, in the suit he had worn to church for at least six years or more, and which was anything but stylish and fashionable. But Tom was not a fash- ionable man, and made no pretence of being other than he was, but he did not eat in his shirt sleeves or commit any marked blunders at the dinner table, where six or seven courses were served, with Pierre as chief waiter and engineer. Reinette was an admirable hosâ€" tess, and so managed to make her incongruous guests feel at home, that the dinner was a great success, and the fastidious major, who was seated far away from both , grandma and Tom, did not think the less of, Anna because of any shortcomings in her father or mother, though he knew they were not like the people of his world. But the Rossiters were, and they were Anna’s rela- tions, and she was refined and cultivated, if her parents were not, he thought, for the glamor of love at first sight was over and around him, and Anna was very pretty in her white muslin dress, and very quiet and lady- like, he thought. and when, after the dinner was over, he walked With her upon one of the finished terraces and saw how well she carried herself and how small and delicately-shaped were her hands and feetâ€"for he was one to notice all these thingsâ€"he began vaguely to wonder how old she was, and what his bachelor friends at the club would say if he should present her to them as his wife. The major was unquestionably attacked with a disease, the slightest symptoms of which he had never before had in his life, and when at last it was , time for the guests to leave, and the Hether- l ton carriage came round to take Grandma Ferguson and Mrs. Lydia and Anna home, he suggested to the latter that she walk with him, as there was a moon and the night was fine. If there was anything Anna detested it was walking over a dusty dirt road in slip- pers, and she were that day a. dainty pair With heels so high that her ankles were in danger of turning over with every step. But slippers and dusty highways weighed nothing against a walk with Major Rossiter down the winding hill, between hedges of sweet briar and alder, and across the long causeway. where the beeches and maples met overhead, and the river wound like a silver thread through the green meadows to the westward. Such a walk would be very romantic. and Anna meant to take it if it spoiled a dozen pairs of slippers. So she acceded to the Major’s proposition, and Ithe two started to- gether for home, while Phil looked curiously after them and said in an aside to Queeme, “ The old chap is hard hit, and if I’m not mistaken Anna will be my Lady Rossiter, and then won‘t we second-class mortals catch it.” ‘ msnonm AND THE PEOPLE. Margery was a success in Merrivale as a dressmaker, at least. Mrs. Lydia had done very well, it is true. Her work was always neatly finished and her prices satisfactory, but she never went farther from home than Springfield or Worcester, and copied mostly from Butterick and Ehrioh, so that there was a sameness and stifiness in her styles wholly unlike the beautiful garments which came from Margery’s skilful hands, no two of which were alike, and each one of which seemed prettier and newer than its prede- cessor, so that in less than two weeks her rooms were full of work, and her three girls busy from morning till night, and she had even proposed to Anna to help her a few hours each day during the busy season. But Anna spurned the proposition with contempt, saying she thanked goodness her day of work- ing for people and being snubbed by them on account of it was over. When Reinette heard of this she laughed merrxly, and went herself into Margery’s workshop and trimmed Hattie Granger’s wedding-dress with her own hands. and pro- mised to make every stitch of Anna's should she succeed in‘ capturing the major, as she seemed likely to do ; but Anna answered snucily that her wedding-dress, if ‘he ever had one, would not be made in the country, and so that point was settled. From the first Margery’s great beauty at- tracted unusual attention and comment, but upon no one did it produce so great an efiect as upon Grandma Ferguson, who first saw the girl the Sunday after her arrival in Merri- vale. Reinette had told the sexton to give Miss and Mrs. La Rue a seat with her in the Hetherton pew, describing the ladies to him so there could be no mis- taking them. But Margery came alone, and whether it was that the old sex- ton’s mind was intent upon a short, elderly woman in black, or whether something about Margery herself carried him back to the Sun- days of long ago, when a girlish figure. as graceful almost as Margery‘s,used to glideup the aisle to the door of John Ferguson’s pew. he made a mistake, and Grandma Ferguson had just settled herself on her soft cushion and adjusted her Wide skirts about her, when a rustling sound caught her ear, and turning her head she saw a face which made her start suddenly with a great throb of some- thing like fear as a tall young girl, simply but elegantly attired in black silk and white chip bonnet, with a wreath of lilacs around it, and a scarf of soft illusion lace knotted under her chin, took a seat beside her. Reinette had said to Phil and Anna that Margery was like themi while Mrs. Rossiter had seen something in the French girl’s face which puzzled and bewildered her. And grandma saw it, too, and defined it at once. and drew a long, gasping breath as she gazed at theface so like the face of her Margaret (lead over the sea. The same delicately chiseled features. the same heavy eyebrows and long, curling lashes, and more than all the same liquid eyes of blue, as clear and bright as the eyes of children which have seen but a few sum- mers. Who was she, this stranger with Mar- garet’s face and Margaret‘s turn of the head, grandma asked herself, and forgot to say her prayers or listen to the sermon, as she won dered and watched. Others had seen only a likeness, but the mother who could never for- get saw more than that ; saw her dead child repeated in this beautiful young girl. who grew restless and nervous under the scrutiny of the eyes she knew were fastened so con stantly upon her, and was glad when the sermon was over and she could thus escape them. The next day grandma went to the cottage ostensibly to make some inquiries thh re- gard to a dress, but really to see again the girl who was so like her daughter, and who was very kind and gentle with her, and laid to her no sweetly : Reinette, who occupied the Hetherton pew, had turned once, and seeing where Margery was, had flashed a. look of recognition upon her, and the moment church was over she came down the aisle. tossing her head airly and with the strange witchery and magnet- ism of her smile and wonderful eyes, throw- ing into the shade the fair blonde whose beauty had been noted and commented upon by the people as something remarkable. And how unlike they were to each other, golden- haired, blue-eyed, rose-tinted Margery. so tall, and quiet. and self-possessed, and dark- haired‘ dark-eyed, dark-faced Reinette, petite and playful, and restless as a bird, with a flash in her brilliant eyes. before which even Margery’s charms were for the time for- gotten. “ Who is she, Bennet 7” grandma whisper ed, catching her granddaughter’s arm as she came near and pointed toward Margery. "Who is she, with a. face so like your mother’s that for a minute I thought it was my Margaret come back again.’_‘ “ Like my mother? 0h, Iam so glad, for now I shall love her more than ever,” Rein- ette replied; then, touching Margery, she presented her to her grandmother, saying as she did so : “She thinks you look like my mother, and perhaps you do, for I am sure you are more like a. Ferguson than I CHAPTER XXII “ 1 am glad it I am like Mrs. Hetherton, for she was Reinette’s mother, and I am sure you will like me for it. I want neople to like me." And in this wish Margery was gratified, for from the first she became very popular and took her place among the best young ladies in town. For this she was in part indebted to Reinette, who insisted that she should be noticed, and who, if she saw any signs of ne- belliou or indifference on the part of the people, opened her batteries uponthe delinquents and brought them to terms at once. When the grounds were completed at Hethetton Place she gave a garden party. to which all the desirable people in Merrivale were hidden. It was in honor of Margery, she said, and she treated the young girl as a subj act would treat a queen, and made so much of her and talked of her so much that Mr. Beresford said to her at once, as they were standing a little apart from the others, and she was asking if he ever saw any one as beautiful as Margery : “ 1v es, Queenie, she is very pretty and grace- ful and all that. but she cannot have had the training which you did. Her early associates must have been very diflerentfrom yours, and I am somewhat surprised at your violent fancy for her.” Then Reinette turned upon him hotly. and he never forgot the look of scorn in her blaz- ing gyies, as shegaifi : “ I know perfectly well what you mean, Mr. Beresford, and I despise you for it. Be- cause Margery worksâ€"earns her own living â€"is a dressmakerâ€"you, and people like you, look down upon her from your lofty platform of position and social standing, and I hate you for it ; yes, I do, for how are you better than she, I’d like to know. Aren’t you just as anxious for a case to work up as she is for a dress to make, and what’s the difference, except that you are a man and she a woman, and so the more to be commended, because she is willing to take care of herself instead of folding her hands in idleness. I tell you. Mr. Bereslord, you’ve got to do better, or I’ll never speak to you again. There’s Margery now, over there by the summer- house, talking with Major Rossiter, and look- ing awfully bored. Go and speak to her. and get her away, and dance with her. See, they are just forming a quadrille there in the summer-house ;" and she pointed to the large, fanciful structure on the plateau, which, with its mauy~colored lights, was much like the gay restaurants on the Champs d’Elysees in Paris. Indeed the whole affair bore a strong resemblance to the outdoor fetes in France, and the gro nds seemed like fairy- land, with the flowers, and flags, and arches, and colored lights, and groups of gayly-dressed people wandering up and down the broad walks and on the grassy terraces, or dancing in the summerâ€"house, near which the band was stationed. Reinette was at her best that night, and like some brightbird flitted here and there among her guests. saying the right word to the right person, and doing the right thing in the right place, and so managing, that when at a late hour the festivities were at an end, and her guests came to say good-bye, it was no idle fiction or fashionable lie, but the truth they spoke when they assured her that the evening had been the most enjoyable of their lives, and one never to be forgotten. Mr. Beresford never danced; he was too dignified for that, but he carried Margery away from the major, and walked with her through the grounds, and wondered at her refinement and lady-like manners, which sat so naturally upon her. Mr. Beresford was an aristocrat of the deepest dye, and believed implicitly in family and blood, and as Mar. gery had neither, he was puzzled and bewildered. and greatly interested in her, and thought here the most beautiful face he had ever seen, excepting Reinette’s which stood out distinct among all the faces in the world. That was what Mr. Beresford and Phil were said to be doing during the weeks when they went every day to Hetherton Place. Phil, who had nothing to do, riding over early every morning, and Mr. Beresford, who had a great deal to (10, going in the evening, or as early in the afternoon as he could get away from his office. It was not unusual for the two to meet on the causeway, Phil coming from and Mr. Beresford going to the little lady, who bewitched and intoxicated them both. though in a very different way. With Phil, her cousin, she laughed and played, and flirted, and quarrelledâ€"hot, bitter quarrels sometimesâ€"in which she always had the bet- ter of Phil, inasmuch as her command of language was greater, and her rapid gestures added point to her sarcasm. But if her anger was the hottest and fiercest, she was always the first to make overtures for a reconcili- ation; the first to confess herself in error, and she did it so prettily and sweetly, and purred around Phil so like a loving kitten, that he thought the making up worth all the quarreling, and rather provoked the latter than tried to avoid it ‘ No letters had come to him from any source, proving that he had no friends who cared to know of his welfare ; but with a. wo- man’s subtle intuition, heightened by actual knowledge, Queenie knew there was something somewhere which she was to ward OK if possible, and as it might come in some business letter, she made it a condition that all documents should be brought to her first. As yet, how- ever, everything had been open end cleanend Queenie was beginning to think her fears groundless, when Mr. Beresford brought her one day a letter from Messrs. Polignec A; 00., who, among other things, wrote that the money invested with them for the benefit of a certain Christine Bodine had been paid by them to her agent, who had been empowered Sometimes, when she was more than usually unreasonable. and aggravating, Phil would absent himself from Hetherton Place for two or three days, knowing well that in the end Pierre would come to him with 9. note from Queenie begging him to return, and chiding him for his foolishness, in laying to heart anything she said. “ You know I don’t mean a word of it, and it’s just my awful temper which gets the mas- tery, and I think you hateful to bother me by staying away when you know how poky it is here without you," she would write, and within an hour Phil would be at her side again, basking in the sunlight of her charms, and growing every day more and more infatu- ated with the girl, whose eyes were just as bright. and whose smile wasjust as sweet and alluring when, later on. Mr. Beresford came, more in love, if possible, than Phil, but with a different way of showing it. Ostenaibly Mr. Beresford’s relations with her were of a, purely business nature ; for in managmg so large an estate there was much to be talked about, and Queenie would know everything, especially with regard to foreign matters. There were many letters from France, and these she read to Mr. Beresford, who with Phil’s help might have made them out ; but he brought them religiously to Queenie, who had insisted upon it with a persistence which surprised him, and insisted, too. upon receiv- ing them from him with the seals unbroken and reading them first herself. She had not forgotten her father’s dying injunction : “ If letters come to me from France burn them unread.” Queenie was morally certain that he was either in love with her or would he soon; and she was always a little shy of him, and never allowed the conversation to approach anything like love-making ; and if be praised a particular dress and said it was becoming, as he sometimes did, she never wore it again for him, but when she knew he was coming, donned some old-fashioned gown in which she fancied herself hideous. ” If Mr. Beresford would be foolish, it should not be from any fault of hers,” she thought, never dreaming that if she arrayed herself in a bag he would still have thought her charming, provided her eyes and mouth were visible. PERFECTING THEMSELVES IN FRENCH. CHAPTER XXIII. by her to receive the same. The name of the agent was given and his receipt inclosed, and then M. Polignac wrote : H I would not advise the young lady to com tinue her search or inquiries for this woman Bodine, for though we know nothing definite. we suspect much with regard to the nature of her relations with the late Mr Hetherton. Such things are very common in France, but shocking to most Americans, and a. know- ledge of them would hurt the daughter cruel- ly. So we shall make no effort go find the woman nor shall we answer Miss Hetherton I. letter with regard to her, unless greatly pressed to do so.” Reinette was white to her lips as she read this, with Mr. Beresford sitting by and watch- ing her, but she uttered no sound. She mere- ly took a pencil from the table and on a slip of paper wrote the name and address of Christine’s agent, which she put into her pocket; then, still keeping the letter from Mr. Beresford, she scratched out every word concerning Christine so efieotually that it would be impossible for any one to decipher it much less Mr. Beresford. whose knowledge of the language was so imperfect. At exactly 10 o’clock yesterday forenoon a citizen of Detroit was going up Monroe avenue with a. basket on his arm, and at pre- cisely the same momenta farmer was coming down the same avenue with a. rope in his hand and a. limp in his left leg. They met. The citizen would have passed on and pur- chased a. peck of green tomatoes for pickles, but the farmer halted him with the query : “Say, isn't your name McDufi 1’" “No, air," was the prompt reply. “I believe it is,” continued the farmer, as he looked him over. “Were you one of the judges on hogs at the State Fair 1’” ' “No, air. 1 never judged a. hog 1n my life, and I wasn t inside the fence while the fair lasted. ” .“No. sir; I’ve got to go back and go up into_the Qty Hall_ gower." “Then I’ll go with you. I want to see the tower, and I want tell you about M01303 7" “Can’t you come to my office In half an hour?” said the citxzen as be halted. “You needn’t wait for me. I‘ll wall-1 along with you and tell you the rest as we go. This McDufi was one of the three judges on hogs. A friend of his had a. little rum of a pig gthere with a hard knot 11: his tail and his hind legs as crooked as a cow path, and while two of the judges pulled strong for my hog, this McDufi declared in favor of the other." “You see, I can‘t possibly wait toâ€"" “ I see you can’t, but when the judges found themselves divided, what happened 1 This McDuflâ€" At this point the citizen started 03, and had got ten feet the start, when the farmer Pursaed,’ wigs 3. “ This McDufi claimed that my Golden Sunshine was too light in the uncut, and he prevailed upon the old woman to let him out anfl give‘ a rooting exhibition." “Mebbe you are not the man, though you ook like hlm. Have you a minute to spar? 7". “No,'air. lwant to tell you now. You see, I sent a prize hog to the fair. I wu laid up with rheumatism, and the old woman and boy brought him in. That hog " “I’ve got to take that car,” interrupted the citizen. “Yes, yes, buiI can’t wait another mo. ment.” THe citizen wag lost to sight around the corner, but the farmer put on steam and got neaggnpugh fio gay : “ And I demand satisfaction for the job you put up on a woman who hadn’t “oath in Ear 116313, fog-fifteen yearg.” Two or three months ago a respectable and lady-like person arrived in St. Catharines from the village of Markham. She was alone and came here to seek employment. Her married life had not been a happy one, her husband being dissipated and abusive. and finally deserted her for a young girl in Ropha ester, N.Y., with'whom it is said he is now living. The wife, as previously stated, sought shelter in this city from her troubles, and be- ing soon to become a mother was received into the family of a kindhearted lady and gentleman until such a time as she could be received in the hospital. A few days ago she was taken into that institution, and gave birth to a daughter. The mother, unfor- tunately, was unable to rally, and thirty-six hours after her trouble she died, and on Tues» day was buried in the St. Catharines Ceme- tery. The unfortunate lady adopted her maiden name here, and was known as Mrs. Hynes. Her husband’s name is Shelley. The deceased is said to have relatives living in Markham, and letters have been sent to them by those who respected the deceased, giving information of her ta‘liing off. It is a very sad case, indeed. The little infant is said to be a fine healthy child, and perhaps some kind people in this city who have no oflspring of their own will adopt it.â€"â€"St. Catharine: Journal. “And I’ll take it, too. I’m looking for the hog. and I might as well go one way an another. That hog was as regularly entered, put in a pen, as anything in his line in that show. His breed was the Golden Sun- shine, and a purtier, cleanerâ€"â€"â€"-" -. .u ig‘ri'lorilrih‘lis‘tflreiéll'sé me. but I’ve gofio meet a friend at the depot.” protested the citizen. “ I’d just as lief walk down with you, for I don’t see the cars very often. Hundreds of people saw that hog and admired him, and dozens of men told my old woman that he'd walk off with the first premium. I now'oomo to McDufi.” “ He bolted 03 the grounds. just as MoDufl knew he would, and I’ve limped over sixteen square miles of territory without hearing of him. Say, I believe you are McDufl." The citizen made for the Central Market on the trot, but he hadn’t been lost in thu crowd over 9. minute when the panting farmer arnved and said : He pulled off his c093; and made such a fun around there that a policeman ‘hnd to scare him away. A well dressed young man entered aMudrid shop a few days ago, and, after walking un- easily about for a time, asked: “Have you any watches with India-rubber cases 7” The astonilhed storekeeper answered in the nego- tive. The youth shembled up and down the floor a few times and again said 5 “You haven’t any rattle-boxes with diamond hen- dlee, I suppose?” “No, sir,” said the I. k. “How young does a child begin to use aveloo- ipede '2” asked the youth. “It depends agood deal on the kid,” was the answer ; "some he- gin young, some don’t.” “Would you sell me a two-wheeled one and change it for a. three- wheeled one if it is a. girl ?" “Couldn’t do it," came the curl. response. The youth went nut and the shopâ€"keeper reposes in the lowest dungeon of the castle. It was the King of Spain. New York is to have underground railways. The work will probably be commenced next month. Broadway will be tunneled from the Battery to Central Perk. There will be, in fact, two tunnels, each fifteen feet in diame- ter, and they will be in the middle of Broad- way just below the water pipes. The tunnel will be built of brick and cement, with a. herd white finish. The temperature will be always the same, and'therefore no allowance will be made for contraction or expansion of the rails, consequently the cars will run without the usual rattle and elank on the rail joints. Sixty-ton locomotives will be used that will consume their smoke and condense their steam. The tunnel and cars will be lit by electricity. The speed will be twenty-five miles an hour, including stoppages, and each train will carry from 800 to 1,000 passengers. Trains will leave every three minutes, and the fare will be five cents. UNDERGROUND TRAVELING. DASSED THE WRtDNG MAN. THE MAN WITH .A 30?]! [To my communnq A SAD CASE.