indefinite intention of flying to the ends of the earth, but recalled to
his senses by the stares of the passers-by, he concluded he had better
first return and get his hat. When he reached his own room, where Clem
was thoughtfully pacing the floor, he flung himself face downwards upon
the bed, groaning and kicking his feet spasmodically.

"What is the matter?" Clem inquired.

"I've done it now! I've done it now!" was all the answer Quimby gave
him.

"Has she rejected you?" asked Clem, his mind going back to their
morning's conversation.

"No! no! she has accepted me!" wailed Quimby, with a prodigious kick.

"_What!_" shouted Clem, stopping short in his promenade.

"She has! Oh, she has!" moaned the wretched victim of mistakes. "I am
engaged! Oh, heavens! engaged!"

"Do you mean to tell me that Miss Rogers has accepted you?" inquired
Clem harshly.

This name completely unmanned poor Quimby, and he began to cry like a
school-boy.

"Miss Rogers!--No! never--never! but _she_--Celeste!"

"Celeste!" echoed Clem; "Celeste!"

"Yes! I--oh!--I made a mistake, you know!" explained Quimby, wiping his
eyes on the bedspread.

An irresistible smile, but quickly suppressed, curved Clem's lips as he
asked,

"But how could you possibly make such a mistake as that? Come, cheer up,
my boy, tell me, and let me help you out!"

Quimby looked at him mournfully.

"It--it was dark," he answered dejectedly, "she sat in the chair--the
lost Nattie I mean, it was she, for she spoke to me! Why did I not seize
the chance then? But no! I left her to--to rehearse a little first, and
when I returned--Oh!--it was still dark, and I did not know a
transformation had been effected--I burst forth in eloquence,
and--oh!--it was Celeste, you know! I fled--she followed,--caught and
hugged me in the hall! Her father saw--roared 'Marry her' and I--there
was no escape, you know!"

"But, my dear fellow," remonstrated Clem, "you can explain the mistake!
you are not obliged to marry Celeste because you accidentally proposed
to her!"

Quimby shook his head hopelessly.

"She--she--would sue me for breach of promise you know, and take
all--all my little property! And her terrific father--I don't know what
he would not do to me! Only one thing could make me brave all!--If Miss
Rogers--Nattie, would say it might have been, had not this fearful
mistake occurred, I would face even old Fishblate and break all bonds."

"Dear old fellow, I am afraid s