o
express her horror at the idea of such a thing. The gentleman standing
by smiled, and advised her to take it, as it would do her no harm. She
turned round, made another curtsey to him, and asked, in a little
cracked voice, 'Can you assure me, sir, as a gentleman of candour and
gallantry, that it is not an exhilarating potion?' The gentleman could
hardly keep from laughing; but he told her it was nothing that would
hurt her. 'Then,' said she, 'I will venture to sip the beverage; it has
most aromatic fragrance.' She seemed to like the taste as well as the
smell, for she drank every drop of it; she turned to me and said,
'Except upon this gentleman's assurance of the harmlessness of the
liquid, I would not have swallowed it in your presence, my young master,
if it were only for the _example_. I have set my seal to no temperance
pledge, but I am abstemious because it becomes a lady; it is with me a
matter of choice, a matter of _taste_.' She now seemed quite restored,
and talked of starting again on her walk; but it was not safe for her to
go alone on the ice, and Mr. Bray thought so, for he asked her where
she was going? She told him, in her roundabout way, that she was going
to pass the day with mistress somebody, that lived near the Common. I
touched Mr. Bray's arm, and said, in a low voice, that if he could spare
me, I'd go with her. He said he shouldn't want me for an hour; so I
offered her my arm and told her I should be happy to wait upon her. You
ought to have seen her then. If I had been a grownup man, and she a
young lady, she couldn't have tossed her head or giggled more. But she
took my arm and we started off. I knew Mr. Bray and the gentleman were
laughing to see us, but I didn't care; I pitied the old lady, and I did
not mean she should get another tumble.

"Every person we met stared at us; we were such a grotesque looking
couple. She accepted my proffered arm, and clasped her hands together
round it, making a complete handle of her two arms; and so she hung on
with all her might. But I ought not to laugh at the poor thing, for she
needed somebody to help her along, and I'm sure she wasn't heavy enough
to tire me out, if she did make the most of herself. I wonder who she
belongs to. I shouldn't think her friends would let her go about the
streets so, especially such walking as it is to-day."

"What's her name?" inquired Gerty. "Didn't you find out?"

"No," answered Willie; "she wouldn't tell me. I asked h