"I suppose you fancy he would have looked better with you, but I
think he showed his good taste by preferring 'Lena," said John Jr.;
then turning toward the large easy-chair, where Mabel sat, pale,
weary, and spiritless, he asked "how she had enjoyed herself."

With the exception of his accustomed "good-morning," this was the
first time he had that day addressed her, and it was so unexpected,
that it brought a bright glow to her cheek, making John Jr. think she
was "not so horribly ugly after all."

But she was very unfortunate in her answer, which was, "that on
account of her ill health, she seldom enjoyed anything of the kind."
Then pressing her hand upon her forehead, she continued, "My head is
aching dreadfully, as a punishment for last night's dissipation."

Three times before, he had heard her speak of her aching head, and
now, with an impatient gesture, he was turning away, when his mother
said, "Poor girl, she really looks miserable. I think a ride would
do her good. Suppose you take her with you--I heard you say you were
going to Versailles."

If there was anything in which Mabel excelled, it was horsemanship,
she being a better rider, if possible; than 'Lena, and now, at Mrs.
Livingstone's proposition, she looked up eagerly at John Jr., who
replied,

"Oh, hang it all! mother, I can't always be bothered with a girl;"
then as he saw how Mabel's countenance fell, he continued, "Let 'Lena
ride with her--she wants to, I know."

"Certainly," said 'Lena, whose heart warmed toward the orphan girl,
partly because she was an orphan, and partly because she saw that she
was neglected and unloved.

As yet Mabel cared nothing for John Jr., nor even suspected his
mother's object in detaining her as a guest. So when 'Lena was
proposed as a substitute she seemed equally well pleased, and the
young man, as he walked off to order the ponies, mentally termed
himself a bear for his rudeness; "for after all," thought he, "it's
mother who has designs upon me, not Mabel. She isn't to blame."

This opinion once satisfactorily settled, it was strange how soon
John Jr. began to be sociable with Mabel, finding her much more
agreeable than he had at first supposed, and even acknowledging to
'Lena that "she was a good deal of a girl, after all, were it not for
her everlasting headaches and the smell of medicine," which he
declared she always carried about with her.

"Hush-sh," said 'Lena--"you shan't talk so, for she is