rding--oh yes, what a crazy head I have!" said the lady, smiles
now altogether taking the place of the struggling tears, and giving him
both her hands with the freedom of a school-girl--either in
acknowledgment of his late service or as an apology for her momentary
forgetfulness. "Mr. Harding, of course! Newport--Purgatory--Dumpling
Rocks--everywhere--what fish we caught and what a jolly month we
had--didn't we? And then to think that I should have forgotten you, even
for a moment!"

The explanation of which is, that Walter Lane Harding had met Miss
Josephine Harris at Newport, in the summer of 1860, and that they had
been much pleased with the society of each other and companions in many
a stroll and fishing-excursion. Probably neither believed, when they
parted, that two years would elapse without another meeting; but in the
great Babel of city life it is only occasionally that we can manage to
make ourselves heard by each other, above the clattering of the hammers
and the confusion of tongues. Had they been lovers, they would have
found each other before, no matter what stood in the way; but
friendships, even the warmest, have little of the fierce energy of love,
and a very cobweb mesh of circumstances or business engagements can bind
the sentiment, while there is no cord spun in the long rope-walk of
life, strong enough to fetter the free limbs of the passion. That Walter
Harding and Josephine Harris had only met by accident after two years,
and yet both living in the same city and moving in the same walk of
society--proved that they might have _liked_ but had never _loved_.

The few passers-by who had collected around the ladies at the time of
the insult, had separated when they proved to be in the company of male
acquaintances; and in a moment after the recognition between Harding and
Joe Harris, the latter had introduced Miss Bell Crawford, the heroine of
the cerise ribbon, to both the gentlemen; and she had received an
introduction which caused her to start and color singularly the moment
their eyes met--to Mr. Tom Leslie, traveler, newspaper-correspondent,
Jack-at-all-trades and general good fellow. Was that interested and
conscious look repaid by another on the part of Tom Leslie, or had he
had sufficient time after seeing the young girl and before speaking to
her, to recover from any agitation, pleasurable or the contrary,
incident to the meeting? Did they know each other or only something _of_
each other? H