eable; but in considering her, he
could not help smiling with self-satisfaction at his own sagacity, by
the help of which he had already guessed that the heads, which the
little-one had so perfectly turned, must have been tolerably crazy
before they left home.

The maiden had that light easy manner which evinces the best education;
a mistress of that delightful coquetry, which, when it offers the
finger-tips to any one, at the same time takes from him the power of
receiving them, the lovely little creature knew how to attract her
numerous visitors, as well as to restrain them within the bounds of the
strictest decorum.

None troubled themselves about the stranger, who had leisure enough to
observe all the actions of the fair one. But while he continued staring
more and more at the beautiful face, there awoke in the deepest
recesses of his mind a dark recollection, as if he had somewhere before
seen the Hollandress, although in other relations and in other attire,
and that he himself had at one time worn a very different form. In vain
he tormented himself to bring this recollection to any clearness, yet
still the idea of his having really seen the little creature before
became more and more determinate. The blood mounted into his face, when
at last some one gently jogged him, and whispered in his ear,--"The
lightning has struck you too, Mr. Philosopher, has it not?" It was his
neighbour of the ordinary, to whom he had asserted that the ecstasy
into which all had fallen was no better than madness, which would pass
away as quickly as it had arisen.

Pepusch observed, that while he had been gazing so fixedly on the
little-one, the hall had grown deserted. Now for the first time she
seemed to be aware of his presence, and greeted him with graceful
familiarity. From this time he could not get rid of her idea; he
tormented himself through a sleepless night, only to come upon the
trace of a recollection,--but in vain. The sight of the fair one, he
rightly thought, could alone bring him to it; and the next day, and all
the following days, he never omitted visiting the flea-tamer, and
staring two or three hours together at the beautiful Doertje Elverdink.

When a man cannot get rid of the idea of a beautiful woman, who has
riveted his attention, he has already made the first step towards love;
and thus it happened that, at the very time Pepusch fancied he was only
poring upon that faint recollection, he was already in love wi