yed,
at one gesture, all her glittering store of large, white teeth.

"I do believe, John, the strange woman means to pick acquaintance with
us," said Flora to her husband, one fine afternoon during the previous
summer, as they were on their way to spend the evening with her mother
at ---- Hall. "Instead of passing us at her usual brisk trot, she has
loitered at our pace for the last half-hour, smiling at us, and showing
her white teeth, as if she were contemplating the possibility of an
introduction. I wish she would break the ice; for I am dying with
curiosity to know something about her."

"You are very foolish," said Lyndsay, who was not one of Miss Carr's
admirers, "to trouble your head about her. These eccentric people are
often great bores; and, if you get acquainted with them, it is not easy
to shake them off. She may be a very _improper_ character. I hate
mystery in any shape."

"Oh, bless you!" said Flora, laughing: "she is too old and ugly for
scandal of that sort. I should think, from her appearance, that she
never had had a sweetheart in her life."

"There's no telling," returned Lyndsay. "She may be lively and witty.
Odd people possess an attraction in themselves. We are so much amused
with them, that they fascinate us before we are aware. She has a good
figure for her very voluminous proportions, and splendid trotters, which
always possess charms for some men."

"Now, don't be censorious, husband dear. If she should speak to us--what
then?"

"Answer her civilly, of course."

"And if she should take it into her head to call upon us?"

"Return it, and let the acquaintance drop."

Flora's love of the ridiculous was her besetting sin. She continued to
watch the movements of Miss Carr with mischievous interest, and was as
anxious for an interview as Lyndsay was that she should keep her
distance. Flora pressed her hand tightly on her husband's arm, scarcely
able to keep her delight in due bounds, while she whispered, in a
triumphant aside, "John, I was right. She is shaping her course to our
side of the road. She means to speak to us,--and now for it!"

Lyndsay looked annoyed. Flora with difficulty repressed her inclination
to laugh out, as Miss Carr came alongside, and verified Mrs. Lyndsay's
prediction, by commencing the conversation in a loud-toned, but rather
musical voice,

"A bright afternoon for your walk."

"Beautiful for the time of year," said Flora.

"Rather hot for stout people like