tle mincing bow, and almost laughed.

Then the strangest thing happened. First one, and then another, of the
show-people, instead of reasoning with the wilful creature, just went to
waving their arms and singing at her. I declare it was enough to have
made a minister laugh when she turned, and began to sing back at them,
sometimes spiteful, and then, again, with tears melting through her
voice. An old man in gray clothes, that looked crazy as a coot, sung at
her, sort of hoarse, and mournfully. Then a young fellow, in a green
coat and high boots, dropped into the affair, and he sung at her. Then
the handsome lady in blue and yellow burst out and sang at her too,
filling the whole opera-house with music. By watching and listening, I
found out this much. This girl was an orphan, picked up by the band of
players, that made her dance and sing for her keeping. The fellow with
the green coat and boots felt sorry for her, and bought her up, short
gown and all, from the tribe of players. Then she put on the dress of a
pretty boy, and waited on the handsome woman in yellow, who was one of
them actress-women, and dead in love with the young fellow in boots. He
was awfully in love with the actress woman too, which just aggravated
that girl-boy out of her seven senses, poor thing! When she happened to
watch them together, you should have seen her fling down her cap, and
kick it about. There was some human nature in that, but singing love out
before folks beats me. I couldn't bring myself to anything of the
kind--not if the Grand Duke were standing before me with his arms out,
shouting Old Hundred.

Goodness gracious! that girl-boy had taken up my thoughts, so that I
didn't know when the Grand Duke came into his pulpit loge. But there he
was, standing up, and looking right toward me, so pleasant.

I threw back my fur mantle a trifle, and taking Cousin E. E.'s fan,
waved it gracefully, hoping thus to cool off the blushes that bathed my
cheeks with a rosiness that I feared might not harmonize with the tints
already there.

Still he looked my way earnestly, and with the fire of admiration in his
blue eyes. A young thing sitting in the loge-pew behind me began to turn
away her head and hide behind her fan, as if she had anything to do with
it. The conceit of some people is astonishing!

Cousin E. E.'s little spy-glass lay in her lap. I took it up; I held it
to my eyes, and devoured him with one burning glance. His heart seemed
leap