Charlie, thus appealed to, came round to see, and started slightly when
his eyes fell upon it, but quickly recovering himself, he glanced at it
indifferently, and remarked that it was very pretty in a careless tone,
which yet had in it an uneasy ring.

"Whose writing is it?" asked Ned, bluntly, as Minnie at last obtained
possession of it after it had been criticized and admired by all in
turn, with the exception of Charlie, who stood somewhat aloof, humming a
tune with a strained assumption of carelessness, which was only noticed
by Seymour, the only member of the family who had been silent during
the conversation.

"O, it's a girl in our school--Mona Cameron--a deadly enemy of mine,"
said Minnie with a laugh as she made the last assertion, "Some of the
girls call her 'Soda' and me 'Magnesia,' because we always create a
'phiz' when we come into contact."

She opened the letter carelessly and found it to contain, as she had
expected it would, some information relative to an examination for which
they were both working. She put the note in her pocket when she had read
it, but left the envelope on the table.

Nothing more was said on the subject, but when Minnie came into the
dining-room about half-an-hour afterward for something she had left
there, she found Charlie standing by the window with the envelope in his
hand, gazing at it with a look that was more than merely critical. He
put it down hastily as she entered, and remembering his former
indifference, she enquired laughingly if he was trying to discover the
writer's character from her caligraphy. He laughed too, but it was not a
mirthful laugh, and soon after, went out; Minnie observed, however, that
the envelope no longer lay where he had laid it, and turned back to look
for it, thinking it must have fallen, but it was not to be found.

"Charlie must have taken it with him," she thought. "Is it possible that
he has fallen in love with Mona's writing without knowing Mona herself.
Well, when one thinks of it, Mona's writing is almost Mona's self, and
any one who would be likely to fall in love with it would be almost
likely to fall in love with her. She is just as beautiful and delicate
and sharp," she continued to herself, taking out Mona's note and looking
at it attentively, "and just the same something about both that repels
one and produces an uncomfortable sensation without any visible cause."

She put back the note in a hurry, remembering how much she h