ineteen or twenty are used to treat such feminine tokens
of grace.

It was a dainty glove, to be sure. It conjured up her presence in its
most alluring aspect. The rustle of her silk, the glow of her cheek, the
coyness of her touch, whenever she had dropped that delicate hand on
his, came with the sight of it. He ventures, in a moment of gallant
exuberance, to purchase a half-dozen of the same number, of very
charming tints, (to his eye,) and sends them as a gift to Adele,
saying,--

"I found your stray glove we had a search for in the carriage, but did
not tell of it. I hope these will fit."

"They fit nicely," said Adele, writing back to him,--"so nicely, I may
be tempted to throw another old glove of mine some time in your way."

Miss Eliza Johns was of course delighted with this attention of
Reuben's, and made it the occasion of writing him a long letter, (and
her letters were very rare, by reason of the elaboration she counted
necessary,) in which she set forth the excellence of Adele's character,
her "propriety of speech," her "lady-like deportment," her "cheerful
observance of duty," and her "eminent moral worth," in such terms as
stripped all romance from Reuben's recollection of her, and made him
more than half regret his gallant generosity.

The Doctor writes to him regularly once a fortnight; of which missives
Reuben reads as regularly the last third, containing, as it does
usually, a little home news or casual mention of Miss Rose Elderkin or
of the family circle. The other two thirds, mainly expostulatory, he
skips, only allowing his eye to glance over them, and catch such
scattered admonitions as these:--"Be steadfast in the truth.... Let your
light shine before men.... Be not tempted of the Devil; for if you
resist him, he will flee from you.... The wisdom of this world is
foolishness.... Trust not, my son, in any arm of flesh."

Ah, how much of such good advice had been twisted into tapers for the
lighting of Reuben's cigars! Not because it was absolutely scorned; not
because it was held in contempt, or its giver held in contempt; but
because there was so much of it. If the old gentleman had been in any
imminent bodily peril, it is certain that Reuben would have rushed far
and wide to aid him. It is certain that he loved him; it is certain that
he venerated him; and yet, and yet, (he said to himself,) "I do wish he
would keep this solemn stuff for his sermons. Who cares to read it? Who
cares to he