reakfast, and I said, "Ladies, you see before you a wild man of the woods, brought hither to be subdued and civilized by your gentle ministrations. By the way, Mabel, there

e sparkling fount of humor w

to them. After breakfast I led him out for a walk, to show him the points of interest. Several very creditable cottages have been put up since he was here last: in fact,

She's an orphan; a sort of cousin of Mrs. T. Got no brothers or sisters, and all that sort of thing; so we look after her

up his rusty mental machinery, and help him to re

of joining you with Miss Jane.

ere were no fit quarters for them at Hodge's. I had gone and written

cked and unpolluted. Just so. But see here, you old hypocrite, if there is another young woman in the family, you ought to have told me about

dressed; but she was a phantom of delight when thus she broke upon our sight; a lovely apparition, sent to be Jim Hartman's blandishment. At least so it seemed, for he stood there and stared like a nob

urth Reader then. Don't get them mixed, or be deceived by a chance resemblance." I thought it was better to lay his emba

, "so you've been practising your openhearted inno

I could not tell her what pleased me, so I said I had been reading a comic paper. "You write your own comic papers, I suspect; and bad enough they are. If you go on at this rate, you will end by editing the Texas Siftings. Do try to be decent, brother, while you have a guest in the house." I suppose she thinks that is a crushing rebuke, now. I said I would try, and told her she had better join Clarice and Hartman, who would probably be tired of each other by this time. Here again I have played