MAGGI es
alTTLJE. ROMANCE, . KSrSiS?:
rRADY there. Hold up, I nay,' shouted an
omnibus conductor as Uip forward plunge of
the horses marly Jerked n young woman,
who wan alighting from thp vehicle, off the
atcp. " Hope you aren't hurt, nnssie?" he
added civilly to his fare, while a tall young
man, w ho hud previously d. si -ended, stepped
back again into thp muddy road, and half
extended his arm.
" Thanks, I am all right." replied thp Klrl. In a cherry,
businesslike tone, an she Jumped lightly on to the pave
ment, and, raising his hut with a alight smile, the tall man
withdrew his arm. and we nt his way.
"Olrls In the old country seem as well able to take
care of the-nisely a those over yonder." he soliloquized
as he swung up Exhibition road; he was well and care
fully dressed, but the deep red brown hue of hla close
shaven, well cut fare, and his light swinging tread and
broad shoulders betrayed an open air life, while the dark
gray eyes, as they glineed quietly from side to side, were
keenly observant. He did not. however, appear to notice
that the way of his late omnibus companion was the same
as hi .own. and that she had followed him down the road,
till glancing at an opposite building his quirk eye caught
si,-hl of In r entering an open gateway. ' Humph! an art
student I tnlgl.t have guessed as much. She was carrying
painting tools I noted." he said to himself, again awak
en, d to tnomentitiy Interest In the girl, but the next
moment he turned Into the Natural History museum and
forgot all about her.
" Whose Is this face. Maggie?" asked a fellow student
as she turned over the pages of her friend's notebook dur
ing the luni'hi nn hour. " Whit a good fare It Is a strong,
reliable face I call It, and such a finely poised head. Io
you know the man?"
Maggie Molirk'on glanced at the op-n book. There
were sketches of heads and faces, figures and limbs, all
over every page of It. belonging to nil sorts and conditions
of men. women, and children In every conceivable position,
but the one Indicated hy her friend's fingers differed from
tin iii all. It was the head and fare of a young man. by
no means ordinary looking. " Know him? O, no!" she
returned, gazing thoughtfully nt thp sketch. " But you
are right, it Is a good face. I wonder where I saw It!"
" Don't you remember? Will, Maggie, you are a queer
Kill, to meet a man of this type, draw his likeness, for It is
a likeness I am sure, and then forget w here you saw him,"
I mghed thp other.
" I don't see anything queer about the matter," re
turned Maggie, In a matter of fact tone. " You know my
h'hit of sketching any fare that strikes me wherever I
h'.iy see it. It has heroine mrch'inical. I think. 1 don't
in to notice the personality of the people J draw. They
,i st get snap shotted on to my mind, so to speak, and my
:i iers srem to reproduce them. I seldom remember any
thing about It afterwards."
"Well. I should have remembi red him, anyway!"
I ugheil Miss Aeton, as she closed the dumpy, little,
nvaa covered book.
Maggie opened her notebook again that evening as she
t by the (Inside In the pretty homelike living room which
she shared with her mother, and after a few, moments'
i ..isid, ration took a sheet of paper, and rapidly made a
: ti er an 1 more llnlshed drawing of the head her friend
had notici d.
" it Is worth preserving." she thought as she placed It
'i a portfolio among some others, and then dismissed the
incident from her mind.
It was fur Maggie's sako that Mrs. Moncklon had let
her pretty cottage In the country and lived in thne rooms
in Ixindon. The twp were alone in the world and had but
each other to live for. Maggie's artistic talent mUBt be
trained and the tiny income left to them was not sufficient
to meet me expenses of a residence in town, to pay art
school fees, and at the same time keep the little home In
the country, " Any place will be home to me where we
can be together, my child," aald the brave little mother,
and a cozy and pretty home she had contrived to make on
thu ulry third floor of an old house in a West End square.
Country friends kept them supplied with flowers, and the
small domain was as fresh and daintily kept as had been
tea Devonshire cottage. Maggie looked forward to becom-'(lr-
an efficient bread winner and going back to Devonshire
before long. She had already worked for a year In the
Kensington training bcIioo), and was contemplating some
classes at the Blade. She worked hard, and had' already
begun to !( A confidence In her growing powers. She was
quite aware that she had talent of a marketable value, and
her love for her art grew with the power of execution.
' You'll make your mark and your fortune, too, at no
distant day, Mags," said Miss Acton, as she watched her
friend's strong and rapid fingers. " The wav In which you
sketched those children by the round pond with a few
atrokes of your pencil was masterly. They are Just life
like, black and white editors would go wild over them.
Have you tried to sell ony of your work yet?"
Maggie shook her head. " I am In no hurry." she said.
" I want to learn all I can while I am about it. I am not
ready to start money making yet."
" Perhaps you are right. You know the power Is there
when ybu want it," returned her friend with a little sigh,
for she had learned enough to feel that her owi. talent was
of an Inferior and less marketable quality, whilst the
necessity of earning a livelihood was In her case more
imperative.
" Maggie, dear, I have had a letter from your Uncle
Walter today," began Mrs. Monekton, as soon as the cozy
meal which always awaited her daughter's return was
concluded, and the tray placed outside for the maid to
carry down. " He writes from their town house In Mel
bourne. He seems to have made a better thln- oT f.iruiln.T
out there than your poor father ever dll at home. I
rrather from what he says that he must be quite a weil'hy
man by this time."
Maggie stretched out her hand for the closely written
pages of thin paper, for she and her mother had n.
reserves from each other.
"lie does indeed seem well endowed with tills woild's
goods," she remarked as she folded up the letter, and lay
buck In her chair fingering It thoughtfully. " Do you nolo,
mother, that my uncle speuks of sending young Walter
that Is the nephew he has adopted. Is It not? home to an
English university? Indeed, he seems to hav-i already
done so. I wonder If this colonial cousin will come and
ee us. He Is a cousin, I suppose?"
"Hardly, he Is only your uncle's nephew by marriage
no blood relation. Your Aimt Mary Is as devotid to him
as If he were her own son. No, dear, I should not think
this youth would take sufficient Interest In us to wish t
Introduce himself. Indeed, your uncle may not have men
tioned his English relations to his nephew at all. You
remember he did not offer to assist me when your father
died, though he must have known our circumstances."
" And yet he writes kindly enough, mother, and he Is
c- rtilnly complimentary In what he says about th.' photo
graph of me you were weak enough to send him."
Mrs. Monekton laughed softly. " He docs not siy a bit
Servants Become Duchesses
I'I'ID, one may Imagine, is never happier
I than when linking lives and bridging social
Q I gulfs. Columns could be filled with stories
Sp? I of maids of low degree whom Cupid has
raised to coronets and wealth; Indend, in his
during moods he has more than once offered
a crown In exchange for a lowly maiden's
hand, as when he made Peter the Great fall
a victim to the bright eyes of Martha Skavrouska, the
peasant's daughter, and placed her by his side on the
throne of Hussla us Catherine the empress.
Sir Henry l'arkes. three tlnus premier of N w South
Wales, married his cook; John Crossley, founder qf the
millionaire family of Halifax carpet weavers, had for
wife (and an excellent spouse, too) Martha Turner, maid
of all work; Thomas Coutts, the millionaire banker, mar
liid his brother's servant: uml Cobbett and Kobert I'hll
l.ps (brother of the poet) both mated with servants, the
latter after walling sixty years for her.
Nearly seventy years ago George, fifth earl of Sussex,
made a countess of Catherine Stephens, daughter of a
carver and glider, who as dowager coc.;,:ss long survived
her husband.
The first earl of Craven offered a coronet to Miss Lou
ise Itrunton, daughter of a iro"iniiul actor and manager,
one of t ight children, whe- was brought up amid the pov
erty and hardships Ins-parable from a strolling actor's
life a century ago; Miss Kurren. who became countess of
Derby, was the daughter of a poor Cork apothecary and
spent her early yiars, after her father's death, in extreme
poverty; Miss Mary, ltolton, the daughter of obscure par
ents who lived In lxmg Acre, found a husband In the
second Lord Thu"1ow. son of the famous lord chancellor,
and became the mother of the third lord; while, to give but
one more out of 'many similar romances, Aurora dt I.lvry,
who first made Voltaire's acquaintance as a " pr girl, as
. meanly clad as a beggar," wore a coronet aa Marchioness
de Qouvernet for many years before she died.
tf i'"';""1 -1 "' -m. ii II II 11 II m KX-.-m .nr IWll III 1 .1 ID I I II II 1 II III.... t. 1 HI ! I II If
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too much. I am sure," mic leiiinnu. with a glince of
admiring satisfaction at her daughter.
The months slipped by, and Madge had been fir some
time a student at the Slade school, when an unaccountable
thing happened to her; she began to be haunted by a face
not a real, flesh and blood Individual, but a "driani far.',"
as she termed It to herself and more than this, " Matter
of Fact Maggie." as Miss Aeton was wont to call her. t ink
to day dreaming. It was the strong, clean cut face of a
young man that so persistently presented It si If to her
mind. She could not remember that she had ever really
seen such a one. or any photograph or picture In the hast
rcsi mbling It, but quite involuntarily all her waking and
Bleeping dreams centered round this face, and at VnjMh
she grew quite worried and secretly ashamed: not even to
her mother could she speak of this odd fancy of hers.
" What was my twin brother like, mother?" she asked
one day; " the baby brother who died when we were 2
years old what do you think he might have been like now
had he lived?"
" He was small and dark like me. He never could have
grown to be In the least like your father or like you. M.iga.
He had neat little features, and dark brown eys nearly
black. Why, my dear. I have told you this of'pn lief re."
' Yes, but I am curious, I like to hear about hlni. Tlcn
you do not think that he would ever have had a strong,
square face that looks as If It belongi d to a big man?"
"Certainly not. What tin Idea. I never saw twins less
alike than you two were."
"There Is no help for me In that direction." s:ld
Maggie to htrself. It is well 1 Hm going on this trip
witii Mary Acton exercise and fresh scenes will, I hope,
drive this nonsense out of my head."
The long summer vacation was approaching, and In
August Maggie ami her"notln r were to pay a lonz prom
ised visit to a Devonshire friend, but to begin with. Ml.ss
Acton had prevailed upon Maggie to become her com
panion on a cycling tour along the Sussex coast for a week
or two. At first Maggie demurred she could not leave her
mother alone, she said, but Mrs. Monekton hi rself over
ruled this objection. The weather was warm, she Insist d,
Maggie was looking pale and run down, in! both girls
needed bracing up after their hard work. She would im.k.
herself perfectly happy. So their plans were arranged.
Beder the TSoy maker.
ACOCK crew, and In the east, far
over the diSert. a faint streak of
sliver, like a gleaming sword, cut
through the darkness. Hider the
toymaker rose from the r ol cov
ered floor, rolled up his sleeping mat, pul
it away with his straw pillow, and. stoop
ing, crept through the door of bis clay
hovel.
' Turning his face toward the silver
Streak the old man knelt on the bare
ground, prostrated hlmsilf with forehead
to earth, and murmured the dibreak
prayer of the pious M'Uklll.
When he arose' Itubr s gray beard and
the tip of Ids long nose were ornamented
with whltcy brown Kiy tlatt dust. There
was duat. too, on his faded blae cotton
gown nnd Ids yel!ow turban. Iiu' li was
holy dust evi.'i m e tei all whom i might
concern that the true believer had said
the daybreak prayer. And Ueder care
fully fori bore to wipe St off.
A solitary old man. p.eiier tl ty
maker. He l ad burled his wlf . ami ha
no desire for another. His children, too,
lay In the cemetery out there In the
desert beyond the cultivated fields; all
his children except Hassan, the youngest
son, w ho was a dragoman in Cairo. And,
alas. Hassan had proved a s. rpent a
toot h.
He had sworn by the ro hi t H at
never would he marry until lie bad e. Tiled
for his father pinsms e no ig'i t . e nab'e
Iteder to make the I llgriniage to M. 1 1 a
the one absorbing hope and desire of the
old man's life. But youth Is wuvward,
and with despicable turpitude Hasban
had taken a wife.
So all Hassan .old ! do for Ins i - relit
was to carry his toys to the dmliis ill
Cairo the little came ls, and eh phsnts,
and pelicans, and buffaloes, and other
.1
a
stopping places marked on the map, and the rrlrH were to
start early' in the following week, putting up for the week
end at a pretty Sussex parsonage, the ho.nc of an uncle
of Mary's, who had given them a warm Invitation.
The friends were capital compan'nni nnd heartily fond
of each other, though In person and character totally dis
similar. Maggie, tall, fair, and strikinirly handsome,
look, d the picture of healthy English glrlhed a.'.d had an
air of quiet Independence and' self-reliance, which sat well
upon her. whilst Mary was small and delicate looking,
with a clever, sensitive Utile dark face. Roth were good
riders, and they thoroughly enjoyed the freedom -.pi
novelty of their out of door life, putting up each night t
homely wayside Inns such as their limited purses could
afford. The weather was Ideal and the country as lovely
as only English country can be In July, and they seemed
to themselves to have been going on with this kind of life
for quite a long time when they stnrted on the day's
Journey that was to bring them to their week end tryst.
The travelers were bowling along a broad, white road
skirting the wooded foot of some downs about noon, when
a man's bicycle skimmed past them, the rider of which
tarew them a keen glance as he went by. He stopped his
machine a little ahead, and, dismounting, wheeled It back
to meet them.
" I think this belongs to one of you ladles," he re
marked in a full, deep voice, holding up a' sketch book,
which Maggie recognized as her own. " It was lying In
the road a mile or two back, and I noted as I passed that
one of you carries a similar book." The young man pulled
off his tweed cap as he spoke, and stood bareheaded.
"Thank you; yes. It is mine. I am so much obliged to
you." said Maggie heartily, stretching out her hand for
the book. Ib r eyes met his as she did so, and then In a
moment the white road seemed to rise up and strike her
and the hills and trees to dance mockingly, for here, the
dark gray eyes looking Into her own, was the face of her
dreams!
The sketch book fill from the hand which had scarcely
grasped II. and. as the young man stooped to recover It,
Maggie, conscious that Mary's curious eyes were upon her,
made a supreme effort to pull herself together. She had
mechanic ..lly t aught at her bicycle to steady herself, but it
swayed liene.it h her hand.
quaint flguns di f ly fashione d by Ibde r's
crooked lingers out of Nile mud that
wondrous Nile mud which builds houses,
fertilizes the land, and gives II f to
f very thing in Egypt.
Heder di spiscd tii, Cairo d. alers as rob
bers, for the price thi y paid for his tos
was scarcely sufficient to keep body nnd
soul togitlur. Nevertheless the old
man's ( es w en fixed un Mecca.
Having finished his br tikfast of millet
bread and dried date s. Jteder lay en the
floor of his hut an I lead a chapti r of
the Koran. Then, closing the hook with
a sigh, he stepped towards the darki st
e-orncr of his abode. Moving the refds
and pulling aside a straw mat that lay
beneath them, he scraped away the earth
and lifted from a bolt a mnu'll vessel of
day. It was liiavy. and there was a
Joyous gleam In the old man s eyes as he
gently shook It. Money.'
Turning the treasure out on to a grimy
handkerchief, Beder eagerly proceeded
to count his store, w hich consisti d mostly
of nickel coins, ranging in value from a
mlllieme (a '.nth of a cent) to a pkistre.
Th. re wtre also some silver pjtces, and
three or four gold ones. Counting the
money rcvtren'.ly bark Into the Jar. the
eld man's foul w as tlU d m it h a glorious
vision of the pilgrimage roughly a Jour
ney ef a thousand milts by land and sea.
So absorb! d w as In that he failed to hear
a fitnt. si! ilthy s . p on the ground out-sid-
fa bd to si e a swarthy face that
appeared cautiously at one of the shape
lets hobs which did service for window s
and fail'-d to fee a pair of gleaming eyes
t'.x. d c,,vit..u-dy on the little clay J ir.
" A "ah! Ge d Is G. d ar.d Mahomet is
his p-ophe t. Tin piastre more." mur
mured It. der, the toy maker, Joyously,
" And then to Mecca!"
The sun was up, naked Arab children
were running about, und women with full
pitchers polsi d on their In ads wi re com
ing from the will as Hub r sallied out.
past the dense gnen arris of sugar cane
and the fit Ida of maize, to bid good morn
ing to his friend Glafar.
Glafar, a brow n faced Nllot, was plow
ing, turning the furrow with the primitive
Wooden lnipliiuint drawn by oxen that
was employed In the days of the Phara
ohs A true believer, C-lafar, wearing,
like Be di r. dust on his forehead from the
daybreak prayers. He, too, cherished
Impassioned dreams of Mecca. But thu
poverty of the fellaheen la extreme, and
for poor Giafar the pilgrimage could only
be f.ind vision.
." Sin Ik Mustapha pulb d my tooth out
this morning," said Glafar. " It is hung
on the door of the mosque, so the evil
genie that gave me toothache will curse
me no more."
" Allah be praised," said lb di r, " I am
70 years old, and have never suffered
toothache."
"Ah! then you sleep well?" observed
Glafar.
"Alas! no. My slumbers are troubled
with 111 dreams, and for many nights I
have beard the screaming of kites."
Giafar looked sorry In fact, almost an
noy td.
After some further talk, Glafar re
sumed his plowing, while liedi r went
away, down to the Inundation hollows,
and, gathering some wet clay, sat down
on a sand bank and began to mold his
toy s.
The tun rose higher and light r, and at
noon, w hen Giafar prepared to go up to
the village to hi dinner, lied, r was klill
" I fear you are not well," remarked the stranger, as he
once more extended the little volume towards her. " It Is
warm and perhaps you have ridden fast up this hill."
" O, no, I am quite well, It was only my awkwardness,"
replied Maggie Incoherently, and without looking at him.
" May I can I be of any use?" he continued, address
ing himself to Mary. "I would advise your resting for a
few minutes, and whin you round the next corner you will
meet the sea breeze."
" Thank you so much. Yes, I think we will take your
advice and rest on this shady bank; we have not much
farther to go." There was a brisk finality In Mary's tone
which he dared not disregard, and again raising his' cap
he walked off reluctantly.
The girls wheeled their machines to the side of the
road, and, seating themselves on the bank, watched the
tall, retreating figure striding at the side of his bicycle till
the brow of the hill hid him from sight.
" How well he walks, I fancy he must be a soldier,"
remarked Mary, and she noted, too, that he never once
looked back.
Maggie's thoughts were In a state of chaos, but she was
silent, and after resting a few minutes, Mary proposed that
they should continue their Journey.
" We had better walk up the remainder of this hill
then." said Maggie, wishing to gain a little 'time and so
avoid overtaking tti' stranger, and the two plodded on till
the top of the hill was reached. A few yards farther the
road turned abruptly and a dellclously cool breeze blew In
their faces, salt from the near neighborhood of fne sea.
"How lovely!" exclaimed both the girls at once as
they remounted and spun leisurely ulong the smooth, level
road.
Early In t!.e afternoon they came In sight of their
destination. " What a pair of dusty wayfarers we look,"
laughed Mary, as they turned Into the open gate of the
parsonage. " I trust our bags have arrived, or we shall
cut sorry figures in my aunt's drawing room; riot that she
will mind," she addfd. "And there they are at the door
to welcome us!"
As the old canon and his wife came forward to welcome
their guests the girls saw to their dismay a flannel clad
figure run forward to take their machines.
"David! you here!" exclaimed Mary.
" Even so, Mary, and not only David but his Jonathan,"
laughed the youth. "Here. Jack, lazy fellow, come and
show yourself," and then Maggie had another shock, for
in fhe tall figure that emerged from a low window near,
both girls recognized the stranger they had parted from a
few hours before. "This Is my chum. Jack Wilton, Miss
Monekton and Mary." went on David; " but I say, what
does this mean, you young folks seem to know each other
already."
-By f. Raymond Couison.
pcrchfd on the sand heap. Glafar called
to him, but hi did not answer.
Giafar approucht d quietly. No, there
was nothing wrong. The yuu was hot.
and I!i ite r, with bis tos and his cla
lying be-sid - hiiii. had faih n ash i p Gin
far smile cl and softly stole uway.
Half an hour later a wandering Uiitli-h
tourist tumbled upon tin slumbi l ing te ) -maker,
and gazi d W illi much mteiest e.n
the quaint little animals made of Nile
clay. Stirring IScder up with his stick,
he n b eted half a d Zen l. 's and said.
"'How much?"
Wide awake in an Instant. Heder .arose,
salaamed -duply, aid hi ill "Three
piastres." That was four times the pi ice
the di aler paid in Cairo.
The tourist threw d- wn a c in. " Knp
the change," be said, caiclessly, ar.d
passed on.
He little dreamed what th it coin meant
to Hi di r. It was a ten piastit piece!
"Allah il Allah!" murmured Heder.
" It Is a miracle. My ten piastres!" Ai d
with a great Joy In hla t yes he rose und
wi nt home. Tomorrow be would start
fur Mecca!
Creeping through the narrow door In o
bis hut, the old man hastttud to the
corner while bit tieuktite lay. I'u.lit j
up the mat and removing the loose earth
be disclosed the Jar. Then tie staggered
baik with a white fact. The Jar Was
empty.
Two days later Heele r was found by a
neighbor lying on the floor of bis hut,
babbling di llriously. "Tomorrow 1 am
ge it g ! i Hart the p.lgriniage !"
Hut tie d. ..ut ii if ir I ad g t the start.
And Giafar. tilled with tin icsta-y of the
True Hehever. was many miles off on
his way to Mecca.
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
a
" W e met on the road nil hour or two nmv Mr Wilton
did us a k.nd service, th.it's all. Mr Aston." aald Mngglc,
In her atati lb at manner, and Dnvid. w hose acquaintance
she had made In London, was Immediately on hla best
behavior. '
Maggie, by this time had herself well In hand, and It
was only by a little gravity of manner that her surprise
and d.smny Fhowei! themselves, but she could never after
wards recall the In. ais she spi nt In t.ie pretty Pusarx
parsonage without wondering how she had managed to get
through Miem, and all the time speak and move and
behave In so natural a manner so that only Mary detected
that she was nit quite oer blithe self.
The bags had arrived and had been placed In their
rooms, so that the gitls were able to appear smart and
trim.
" How Is It you did not recognize your cousin's friend,
Mary?" Maggie asked when they were nlone for a moment,
" How should 1 know him, my dear, when 1 have never
seen him before. I only knew David had a friend. Jack
Wilton, to whom he is absurdly devoted hut at the anme
time I set m to have n vague remembrance of his face."
Maggie was more successful than she had hoped In
shaking off her uncomfortable associations with her fel
low gin st during the iM tiing, and was to all appearances
iier bright, natural self. Nevertheless, sin- was never for
a moment unconscious of Mr. Wilton's presi nee, and she
had a strange conviction that he. In a measure, shared her
feelings. She knew that, even when talking to others, not
a word or movement of hers esrapid him.
Mary was at the piano at the further end of the room,
and Maggie, seated at the window near her hostess, was
turning over a bonk of photographic views, when the
gentlemen entered. David and his father Joined Mary, but
Mr. Wilton came straight to Maggie's corner, and took
possession of the broad, low window scat at her side.
" Miss Monekton," he began in a low tone, " I have a
confession to make to you. one that concerns us both.
Have I your permission to do so?"
"Certainly," riturmd the glti, wonderlngly, "but 1
cannot Imagine what you can have to tell me, considering
we have never met until today."
"I daresay not. but to begin with, when Aeton Intro
durid us he only told you half my name. You see he has
known me as Jack Wilton for so long, hut bv the desire of
nn uncle in Australia who has adopted me, I now add the
surname of Monekton to my own. Walter Is my second
name."
Maggie started, but she was hi ynnd being affected by
surprise now
" Then you are Walter Monekton!" ahe exclaimed.
" And your cousin, if you are good enough to admit the
relationship, which is not perhaps a rial one; hut we are
closely connected through our mutual Vncle Walter. You
will perhaps have heard of me from him."
" Yes, iml.id. My mother had a letter from him lately
In which he apokc nf you as being in England. You are
at Oxford then with Mr. Acton? How Is It we have seen
notoing of you?"
" Ilccaiise I lost your mother's address which t brought
home with me. and have only Just obtain' d It again. Do
you know your face gave me the clew when we met this
morning. My father has a photograph of you which Is
lifelike, and I have so looked forward to meeting and
claiming you as one of the family. Wl'1 ""ii accept me as
a cousin?"
The young man's fare was ,-o earnest and cordial aa
he stretched his hand towards her that Maggie could not
refuse to place hers within it.
" Indeed, I will, and gladly." returned Maggie, feeling
her heart warm towards this simple, manly, stalwart
young colonial. " It will be a real delight to me to have a
cousin. I have never had a brother ever since I can
remember."
"Thin I may come and see Aunt Maggie? Your
mother has always been 'Aunt Maggie' to me!"
" Y'cs, of course, she'll be so happy to receive you,
Mr. "
" Not ' Mr. anything, please," Interrupted the young
man. "I am only Jack!"
" Well then Jack, nnd I am Maggie, you know."
" Nay, you are Margaret to me. I have nlwiys thought
of you as Margaret, and It suits you best. You are stately,
you see, my cousin, nnd ' Maggie ' Is not dignified enough."
" So be It," replied Maggie, rising aa the mualc stopped.
" We must tell our friends, you know," she whispered.
There was a chorus of surprised exclamations and
congratulations during the few minutes before good nights
were exchanged. " It is quite a little romance," said Mrs.
Acton, giving Maggie a motherly kiss.
" And It Is one which will not end here," nodded wise
Mary to herself as she ascended the stairs.
Maggie was conscious of a warm glow at her heart as
slip still felt the close lingering pressure of Jack's hand on
her own, nnd recalled thp happy shining of his gray eyes
as they had hidden each other good night. " I am sure I
shall like him," she thought, "and how pleased mother
will be."
Jack always Insisted that he und Maggie had fallen
in love with each cither at first sight he was still unaware
.if her fancy about her dream face, hut thla little mystery
was shortly to be solved in quite a natural manner.
A few months before tileir wedding she waa looking
over a portfolio of her own sketches, with Jack as usual
at her elbow, w hen siie came upon a lifelike sketch of Jack
himself, with her own initials and a date of nearly two
years ago in the corner. Jack saw it at the anme moment
as she did.
" How on earth did you get hold of this?" he exclaimed,
holding up the picture and staring at It In a bewildered
manner.
Maggie did not reply at once. Ihke a flash the Incident
came back to her mind, and she remembered, too, where
she had first seen him
" Wtiit, wait a moment and I will explain It all, Jack!"
she said breathlessly, und then laughing iiirtl blushing; a
little she told him how It was her habit to make rough
sketches of any fare that struck her fancy, and how aa
i-in had s.it opposite to him in an omnibus one morning she
had surreptitiously transferred him to her sketch book,
and how It had unconsciously become Impressed on her
memory by the drawing she had made from It.
" I remember that morning, too," exclaimed Jack;
"and you weie the girl who nearly fell off the omnibus
step. O, Margaret! you looked so demure aa you bent over
your book that I could not get a fair look at you, but
tin re was something about you that brought back a
memory of home even then, and I've often thought of
that girl since. iKaiiing. If I was half In love with your
photograph before I saw you, you were half in love with
our sketch of me, so we are still quits, and do you know,
1 m sure my father sent me to England as muchJo marry
you as to take my degree at Oxford!"
Mixed Marriages ;n Japan.
N her pleasant little book, "An English Girl
In Japan." Mrs. Ella M. Hart I!, inn tt re
marks that mixed marriugts In Japan are
on rare occasions a success, but this Is not
generally the case, especially If the wife be
the foreigner. She proceeds:
"I was much Inn re steil In a European
woman I knew who had married a Japanese
oltiocr. The)
been for the
we re a we ll matched coupl". and had it not
husband's mother all might have been well.
Hut 111 Japan
mot her-ln-la w
wife is still iiitiniy in subjection to her
who makes tin- most of this authority, In
some case-s reducing her son's w ife to a sort of uppc-r serv
ant. In the' present Instance, us long a h. r husband re
mained at borne his wife was able to do much us she
phased. When, however, the war broke nut and he Joined
his regiment in China, the ini.tlier-ln law e-iit'riiy r.gilnid
the upper band. The unfortunate daughter hail to abandon
In T European customs, adopt Japanese dress for herself
and her child, sit on the Moor, and live principally on
Japane se food. Nor was this nil. Inning her husbaiiel a
absence the elder woman absolute ly forbade her victim to
accept any Invitation or to receive- any visitors exce pt her
Jupane se relations ami a few of t'.e-ir frie-nds.
" 1 managed, however, to gam admittance one day, and
fuund my friend miserable, shivering v.r a wretched char
coal ' hibatehl.' and without a single book or paper to
distract he-r thoughts from In r uiixnty as to her husband's
safety. Ro great was the motlo r-bi-l iw 's power and In
lluence that the western woman did not dare to disobey,
but bad to submit in slh-nci until her husband's return
home, when, I am glad to say, life ours mure became bear
able to he r.
"The case- Is different w In n It is the wife who I the
Japanese. To begin with, no Japanese woman of gentle
birth would ever think of marrying a foreigner. She would
consider it a mesalliance of thu worst description."
3 Mi
