me day will
startle some phlegmatic countryman of hers, who takes her to be as
submissive as she looks."

VI.

Some fifteen minutes after the appointed hour I called with a carriage
for Fraulein Hildegard, whom, to my wonder, I found standing in all
the glory of her ball-toilet (for she was evidently afraid to sit
down) in the middle of the sombre drawing-room. I had been prepared to
wait for a good half-hour, and accordingly felt a little provoked at
myself for my seeming negligence.

"I do not mind telling you," she said, as I sat compressed in a
corner of the carriage, striving to reduce myself to the smallest
practicable dimensions, "that this is my first ball. I don't know any
of the gentlemen who will be there to-night, but I know two or three
Milwaukee ladies who have promised to come, so, even if I don't dance
much, I shall not feel lonely."

"Of course you will give me the first chance at your card," I
answered. "How many dances will you grant me?"

"As many as you want. Uncle was very explicit in impressing upon me
that I am to obey you unquestioningly and have no will of my own."

"That was very unkind of him. I shall be unwilling to claim any
privilege which you do not of your own free will bestow upon me."

"I didn't mean it so," she answered, impulsively, and by the passing
light of a gas-lamp I caught a glimpse of her beaming, innocent face.
"I shall not be apt to forget that I am indebted to your kindness for
all the pleasure I shall have to-night, and if you wish to dance with
me, of course it is very kind of you."

"Well, that is not much better," I murmured, ruefully, feeling very
guilty at heart. "On that ground I should be still more reluctant to
assert my claim on you."

"Oh, what a bungler I am!" she exclaimed with half-amused regret.
"The truth is, I am so glad, and when I am very happy I always make
blundering speeches."

As we entered the magnificently lighted and decorated hall, I noticed,
to my dismay, that the company was a little more mixed than I had
anticipated. I had, therefore, no scruples in putting down my name for
four waltzes and a quadrille. I observed, too, that my fair partner
attracted much attention, partly, perhaps, on account of her beauty,
and partly on account of her superb toilet. Her dress was of satin, of
a cool, lucid, sea-green tint, such as one sees in the fjords of
Norway on a bright summer's day; the illusion was so perfect that in
dancing with her