t. Oh, women can't. They
aren't broad-minded enough. It takes a man,--his heart can hold them
all." The girls sniffed, but Nevius would not be side-tracked from his
story. "Well, this man loved them both, and they were both worth
loving--young, and fair, and wealthy. He loved them distractedly. He
loved one because she was soft and sweet and adorable, and he called
her Precious. He loved the other because she was talented and
brilliant, a queen among women, the center of every throng, and he
called her Glory. He loved to kiss the one, and he loved to be proud
of the other. They did not know about each other, they lived in
different towns. One night the queenly one was giving a toast at a
banquet, and the revelers were leaning toward her, drinking in every
word of her rich musical voice, marveling at her brilliancy, when
suddenly she saw a tiny figure perch on the table in front of her
fiance,--yes, he was fianceing them both. The little figure on the
table had a sweet, round, dimply face, and wooing lips, and loving
eyes. The fiance took her in his arms, and stroked the round pink
cheek, and kissed the curls on her forehead. Glory faltered, and tried
to brush the mist from before her eyes. She was dreaming,--there was
no tiny figure on the table. There could not be. Lover--they both
called him Lover; he had a fancy for the name--Lover was gazing up at
her with eyes full of pride and admiration. She finished hurriedly and
sat down, wiping the moisture from her white brow. 'Such a strange
thing, Lover,' she whispered. 'I saw a tiny figure come tripping up to
you, and she caressed and kissed you, and ran her fingers over your
lips so childishly and--so adoringly, and--' Lover looked startled.
'What!' he ejaculated. For little Precious had tricks like that.
'Yes, and she had one tiny curl over her left ear, and you kissed it.'
'You saw that?' 'Yes, just now.' She looked at him; he was pale and
disturbed. 'Have you ever been married, Lover?' she asked. 'Never,'
he denied quickly. But he was strangely silent the rest of the
evening. The next morning Glory was ill. When he called, they took
him up to her room, and he sat beside her and held her hand. 'Another
strange thing happened,' she said. 'The little beauty who kissed you
at the banquet came up to my bed, and put her arms around me and
caressed and fondled me and said she loved me because I was so
beautiful, and her little white arms seemed t