nd set forth to tout for dancers among all the members of the genteel
population, who, not being notorious Puritans, had also not been so
obliging as to take tickets for the ball. There never was any pride or
bashfulness about me. Excepting certain periods of suspense and anxiety,
I am as even-tempered a Rogue as you have met with anywhere since the
days of Gil Blas.

My temperament being opposed to doing anything with regularity, I opened
the directory at hazard, and determined to make my first call at the
first house that caught my eye. Vallombrosa Vale Cottages. No. 1. Doctor
and Miss Dulcifer. Very good. I have no preferences. Let me sell the
first two tickets there. I found the place; I opened the garden gate; I
advanced to the door, innocently wondering what sort of people I should
find inside.

If I am asked what was the true reason for this extraordinary activity
on my part, in serving the interests of a set of people for whom I cared
nothing, I must honestly own that the loss of my young lady was at the
bottom of it. Any occupation was welcome which kept my mind, in some
degree at least, from dwelling on the bitter disappointment that had
befallen me. When I rang the bell at No. 1, did I feel no presentiment
of the exquisite surprise in store for me? I felt nothing of the sort.
The fact is, my digestion is excellent. Presentiments are more closely
connected than is generally supposed with a weak state of stomach.

I asked for Miss Dulcifer, and was shown into the sitting-room.

Don't expect me to describe my sensations: hundreds of sensations flew
all over me. There she was, sitting alone, near the window! There she
was, with nimble white fingers, working a silk purse!

The melancholy in her face and manner, when I had last seen her,
appeared no more. She was prettily dressed in maize color, and the room
was well furnished. Her father had evidently got over his difficulties.
I had been inclined to laugh at his odd name, when I found it in the
directory! Now I began to dislike it, because it was her name, too. It
was a consolation to remember that she could change it. Would she change
it for mine?

I was the first to recover; I boldly drew a chair near her and took her
hand.

"You see," I said, "it is of no use to try to avoid me. This is the
third time we have met. Will you receive me as a visitor, under these
extraordinary circumstances? Will you give me a little happiness to
compensate for what I have