ane. "And when they pretend to be fast
they are more unbearable still."

"Oh, come," said Jack, warmly, for was not Bluebell of that maligned
nationality? "they must have used you badly, Major. They are far more
unaffected and natural than English girls, who always ride to orders; and
as for beauty--"

"You have only got to look at Bluebell Leigh. Well, slope back to them,
Jack. You shan't have the boat, because I should never get it again. But
if you like to plough through that long grass to their bivouac, I daresay
the mosquitoes will receive you warmly if the young ladies don't."

In the meantime, Bluebell, tempted by a shady creek, abandoned her canoe,
and, flinging herself down on a bed of wild flowers, remained a prey to
the consideration of this new view of Lilla's, which would account, in
the most unwelcome manner, for the inconsistency of Du Meresq's conduct
with his professions.

Cecil a rival! Much as she wished to disbelieve it, corroborative
evidence, unheeded at the time, now recurred with such startling
distinctness that she marvelled at her own previous blindness. Still,
Bluebell was not cured. That he cared most for herself she continued to
believe, though Cecil's fortune might have tempted him away. Plan after
plan for obtaining an explanation was discarded as unfeasible; and, at
last, Bluebell, in despair, hid her face in her hands, and burst into the
unrestrained grief of the young.

She was disturbed by a slight rustling in the bushes, and, looking up,
beheld Jack Vavasour in an attitude of confusion and consternation,
apparently meditating flight.

"I beg your pardon, Miss Leigh; I was going away before you saw me. I'll
go at once. My darling Bluebell, what _is_ the matter?"

"I don't know," said she, relieved to see it was "only Jack." "I am very
hot and--miserable."

Vavasour sat down, and tried in his honest and unsophisticated way to
console her. "Was there any one he could pitch into for her? He would do
anything she wished, etc., if she would only say what was vexing her."

Bluebell could hardly help laughing, but was so unaccustomed of late to
sympathy, that she felt half tempted to take him into council, and
confide her misplaced attachment and perplexities.

It was rather heartless, knowing his sentiments; but callousness to the
pangs of a lightly won and unvalued heart is not uncommon in Love's
annals.

However, he was too precipitate for her.

"Bluebell," he began, blushin