heard shouts of childish laughter, and a scamper of childish
feet, and Maida and Adelaide Edes rushed past, almost jostling him
from the sidewalk. Maida carried a letter, which her mother had
written, and dispatched to the last mail. And that letter was
destined to be of more importance to Von Rosen than he knew.

As for Annie Eustace, whose meeting with Von Rosen had, after her
first lapse into the unconsciousness of mirth, disturbed her, as the
meeting of the hero of a dream always disturbs a true maiden who has
not lost through many such meetings the thrill of them, she hurried
home trembling, and found everything just exactly as she knew it
would be.

There sat Aunt Harriet perfectly motionless behind the silver tea
service, and although the cosy was drawn over the teapot, the tea
seemed to be reproachfully drawing to that extent that Annie could
hear it. There sat Aunt Jane behind the cut glass bowl of preserved
fruit, with the untouched silver spoon at hand. There sat her
grandmother behind the butter plate. There stood Hannah, white capped
and white aproned, holding the silver serving tray like a petrified
statue of severity, and not one of them spoke, but their silence,
their dignified, reproachful silence was infinitely worse than a
torrent of invective. How Annie wished they would speak. How she
wished that she could speak herself, but she knew better than to even
offer an excuse for her tardiness. Well she knew that the stony
silence which would meet that would be worse, much worse than this.
So she slid into her place opposite her Aunt Jane, and began her own
task of dividing into sections the omelet which was quite flat
because she was late, and seemed to reproach her in a miserable,
low-down sort of fashion.

However, there was in the girl's heart a little glint of youthful
joy, which was unusual. She had met Mr. Von Rosen and had forgotten
herself, that is at first, and he had looked kindly at her. There was
no foolish hope in little Annie Eustace's heart; there would be no
spire of aspiration added to her dreams because of the meeting, but
she tasted the sweet of approbation, and it was a tonic which she
sorely needed, and which inspired her to self-assertion in a
childishly naughty and mischievous way. It was after supper that
evening, that Annie strolled a little way down the street, taking
advantage of Miss Bessy Dicky's dropping in for a call, to slink
unobserved out of her shadowy corner, for th