lap, white upon
black, had at length drawn and fixed Gibbie's attention. They were
very lady-like hands, long-fingered, and with the orthodox long-oval
nails, each with a quarter segment of a pale rising moon at the
root--hands nearly faultless, and, I suspect, considered by their
owner entirely such--but a really faultless hand, who has ever
seen?--To Gibbie's eyes they were such beautiful things, that, after
a moment or two spent in regarding them across the length of the
hairy hearthrug, he got up, took his footstool, crossed with it to
the other side of the fire, set it down by Mrs. Sclater, and
reseated himself. Without moving more than her fine neck, she
looked down on him curiously, wondering what would come next; and
what did come next was, that he laid one of his hands on one of
those that lay in the satin lap; then, struck with the contrast
between them, burst out laughing. But he neither withdrew his hand,
nor showed the least shame of the hard, brown, tarry-seamed, strong,
though rather small prehensile member, with its worn and blackened
nails, but let it calmly remain outspread, side by side with the
white, shapely, spotless, gracious and graceful thing, adorned, in
sign of the honour it possessed in being the hand of Mrs.
Sclater,--it was her favourite hand,--with a half hoop of fine
blue-green turkises, and a limpid activity of many diamonds. She
laughed also--who could have helped it? that laugh would have set
silver bells ringing in responsive sympathy!--and patted the lumpy
thing which, odd as the fact might be, was also called a hand, with
short little pecking pats; she did not altogether like touching so
painful a degeneracy from the ideal. But his very evident
admiration of hers, went far to reconcile her to his,--as was but
right, seeing a man's admirations go farther to denote him truly,
than the sort of hands or feet either he may happen to have received
from this or that vanished ancestor. Still she found his
presence--more than his proximity--discomposing, and was glad when
Mr. Sclater, who, I forgot to mention, had left the room, returned
and took Gibbie away to show him his, and instruct him what changes
he must make upon his person in preparation for dinner.

When Mrs. Sclater went to bed that night she lay awake a good while
thinking, and her main thought was--what could be the nature of the
peculiar feeling which the stare of the boy had roused in her? Nor
was it long before sh