he extravagant contrast presented by that gentleman to
complete the tableau. Attired in a suit of shining black alpaca, the
visitor had evidently prepared himself with some care for a possible
interview. He was seated by the French window opening upon the veranda,
as if to secure a retreat in case of an emergency. Scrupulously washed
and shaven, some of the soap appeared to have lingered in his eyes and
inflamed the lids, even while it lent a sleek and shining lustre, not
unlike his coat, to his smooth black hair. Nevertheless, leaning back
in his chair, he had allowed a large white handkerchief to depend
gracefully from his fingers--a pose at once suggesting easy and elegant
langour.

"How kind of you to give me an opportunity to make up for my misfortune
when you last called! I was so sorry to have missed you. But it was
entirely my fault! You were hurried, I think--you conversed with others
in the hall--you--"

She stopped to assist him to pick up the handkerchief that had fallen,
and the Panama hat that had rolled from his lap towards the window
when he had started suddenly to his feet at the apparition of grace and
beauty. As he still nervously retained the two hands he had grasped,
this would have been a difficult feat, even had he not endeavored at the
same moment, by a backward furtive kick, to propel the hat out of the
window, at which she laughingly broke from his grasp and flew to the
rescue.

"Don't mind it, miss," he said hurriedly. "It is not worth your
demeaning yourself to touch it. Leave it outside thar, miss. I wouldn't
have toted it in, anyhow, if some of those high-falutin' fellows hadn't
allowed, the other night, ez it were the reg'lar thing to do; as if,
miss, any gentleman kalkilated to ever put on his hat in the house afore
a lady!"

But Christie had already possessed herself of the unlucky object, and
had placed it upon the table. This compelled Whiskey Dick to rise again,
and as an act of careless good breeding to drop his handkerchief in it.
He then leaned one elbow upon the piano, and, crossing one foot over the
other, remained standing in an attitude he remembered to have seen
in the pages of an illustrated paper as portraying the hero in some
drawing-room scene. It was easy and effective, but seemed to be more
favorable to revery than conversation. Indeed, he remembered that he had
forgotten to consult the letterpress as to which it represented.

"I see you agree with me, that politen