, negligent, and devoted ditto; but acting was not
his forte, so Debby routed him in all; and at last, when he was at his
wit's end for an idea, she suggested one, and completed her victory by
saying pleasantly,--

"You took me behind the curtain too soon, and now the paste-diamonds
and cotton-velvet don't impose upon me a bit. Just be your natural
self, and we shall get on nicely, Mr. Leavenworth."

The novelty of the proposal struck his fancy, and after a few relapses
it was carried into effect and thenceforth, with Debby, he became the
simple, good-humored lad Nature designed him to be, and, as a proof of
it, soon fell very sincerely in love.

Frank Evan, seated in the parquet of society, surveyed the dress-circle
with much the same expression that Debby had seen during Aunt Pen's
oration; but he soon neglected that amusement to watch several actors
in the drama going on before his eyes, while a strong desire to perform
a part therein slowly took possession of his mind.

Debby always had a look of welcome when he came, always treated him
with the kindness of a generous woman who has had an opportunity to
forgive, and always watched the serious, solitary man with a great
compassion for his loss, a growing admiration for his upright life.
More than once the beach-birds saw two figures pacing the sands at
sunrise with the peace of early day upon their faces and the light of a
kindred mood shining in their eyes. More than once the friendly ocean
made a third in the pleasant conversation, and its low undertone came
and went between the mellow bass and silvery treble of the human voices
with a melody that lent another charm to interviews which soon grew
wondrous sweet to man and maid. Aunt Pen seldom saw the twain
together, seldom spoke of Evan; and Debby held her peace, for, when she
planned to make her innocent confessions, she found that what seemed
much to her was nothing to another ear and scarcely worth the telling;
so, unconscious as yet whither the green path led, she went on her way,
leading two lives, one rich and earnest, hoarded deep within herself,
the other frivolous and gay for all the world to criticize. But those
venerable spinsters, the Fates, took the matter into their own hands,
and soon got the better of those short-sighted matrons, Mesdames Grundy
and Carroll; for, long before they knew it, Frank and Debby had begun
to read together a book greater than Dickens ever wrote, and when they
had co