whom no surprises appear to survive. What see we?

Were you to question the crowd, they would tell you the man was Edgar
Fay; that, years before, his father brought him, a velvet-coated boy, to
Rio de Janeiro; that shortly afterward he died, leaving the son and a
baby sister a small fortune; that the sister, being under the control of
a mother who had deserted her husband, was never heard of; and that the
guardians, finding no coheir, had spent the money on Edgar's education,
afterward securing him a position under the Imperial government.

About the woman they would say, "She is Mademoiselle Milan, just arrived
on the French packet, to fill an engagement as leading lady at the
_Alcasar_."

Concerning Dupleisis, except that he had arrived recently on the English
steamer, that he seemed to be a man of leisure, and paid promptly for
what he received, they could tell you nothing.

The glowing sunshine faded entirely out of the sky, the thick-walled
houses flickered faintly through their staring casements, the lamps on
the streets glimmered dismally at the returning crowds, and one by one
the lights began to quiver on the water. The Passeio, an hour before too
cramped for the multitude, was now deserted; but Dupleisis, nothing
daunted, smoked on. Disgusted at the necessity which compelled his
presence, and annoyed at the stupidity of the few people he had met, he
commented savagely on their peculiarities, and anathematized with
merciless ingenuity.

"Pshaw, M. Dupleisis! you are only angry because you cannot have
chicken-pie every day for dinner. What have the Brazilians done to you?"

Dupleisis gazed at the speaker in astonishment.

"Their impudence, rather than degeneracy, perhaps should surprise."

"Really, M. Dupleisis! I fear you are a cynic. In the gayest promenade
in the empire, you are filled with violence. You are a spoiled child
looking in at a shop-window and admiring nothing. Are you going to cry
with a mouth _full_ of sugar-plums?"

"Pardon me," said the Frenchman, haughtily, "but it is an awkward habit
of mine to feel curious concerning the _names_ of my associates."

"Let me hasten to enlighten you:--Percy Reed, diamond-dealer, Rua do
Ouvidor, at your service. You brought me a letter of introduction; but,
unluckily, I was out of town when you arrived."

The dark eyes glanced at the speaker closely as they had watched the man
and the woman. There was something in the face that commanded respect.
T