the elder lady-he was too old, surely, to be a brother of the younger, though he might be a prétendu to either of them. The latter idea was not a pleasant one-from Ranger's point of view-for my friend was clearly head over ears in love with the lady who was now inseparably associated in his mind with the little feet. So the dinner passed off in as unsatisfactory a manner as could well be to us both; for apart from my sympathy with poor Ranger in his infatuation, the state of mind in which he was quite spoiled him for purposes of society.

An incident occurred towards the conclusion of dinner, however, which gave him relief. Mrs. Merride w's French maid entered the room, and brought a message from the manager of the hotel, in answer, as it appeared to a previous application.

Oh yes,' said that young person, 'Mademoiselle could have a chamber adjoining the appartement of Monsieur and Madame; it was quite ready for her reception.'

I thought Ranger was about to express his surprise at this announcement in an audible manner, so visibly impressed was he at the fact disclosed. Mrs Merridew was not a widow, then, after all, and, what was more important, her husband could not be a prétendu of Miss Pembroke.

We were in doubt when dinner was over, whether to begin our evening prowl at once, or to look in for a few minutes upon the party in the salon assigned to the residents of the hotel. It was lucky that we decided upon the latter course; for an incident took place immediately on our entering the room, which brought the adventure to a crisis, and was of immense importanceas the event proved-to the future of my friend.

Ranger was looking about him with an object that may be guessed, when an elderly gentleman-whose erect, bold bearing, said 'old soldier,' as unmistakably as his jovial red face, shaded by the whitest of moustache and whisker, said bon vivant -tapped him on the shoulder to attract his attention.

Ranger turned round in some

surprise, and immediately fell to shaking the elderly gentleman cordially by the hand.

'My dear uncle,' said he, 'I am delighted to see you.'

'And I you, my boy,' returned the uncle, beaming with pleasure. 'It is very seldom that you are caught, thanks-or rather no thanks -to that way of yours of being here, there, and everywhere at once. You are staying at this hotel? So am I. Very fortunate, isn't it, that we should meet?'

Ranger said it was, and evidently meant what he said. He introduced me presently to his jovial relative, who seemed almost as delighted to see a friend of his nephew's as his nephew himself. My new acquaintance proved to be General Holsterley, an old dragoon, who, I afterwards learned, was a very rich bachelor, and had made Ranger his heir.

After a little talk, the General said to Ranger

'I must leave you for a few minutes. I vote for going somewhere together afterwards, but I must go and speak to some people I see at the end of the room. I promised to meet them here, to do a little Paris with them. But stay, why should I leave you? Come with me, and I will introduce you to a couple of as charming women as you could wish to meet in a day's march-and that's not saying enough for them, bythe-by. And, I tell you what, if you played your cards well, you would have a very great chance with the only one of the two who has a chance left open. Come on, my boy--and your friend too,' he added, seeing that Ranger was doubtful what to do with me.

So we were both marched up to the end of the room, and in another minute the General was exchanging the heartiest of greetings withour friends of the table d'hôte.

As soon as there was a pause-for they all talked together-Holsterley took an opportunity of presenting his nephew, and then myself, to his friends.

They were all very cordial, and Mrs. Merridew rather demonstrative..

'We were fast becoming ac

quainted with your friends through meeting them at dinner, though Mr. Ranger was very reserved, and did not seem to trust himself to talk much with strange ladies.'

And she looked at him-what shall I say? well, wickedly if you will-with those beady black eyes of hers which she knew so well how to employ.

Ranger looked a little confused, as a man is apt to look if he thinks he is being ridiculed by a pretty woman; and he told me afterwards that the idea came upon him suddenly that he had seen those eyes somewhere before.

It is sufficient for me to say, however, that we all became very intimate on short notice; that we all went to the theatre together, and had one of the pleasantest evenings possible. It must have been especially so to Ranger, for he had Miss Pembroke nearly all to himself during the entire time; and it was not difficult to see that her deepblue eyes and soft happy beauty had fairly completed the impression which they had made upon him from the first.

Colonel Merridew-the new comer turned out to be an old comrade of the General's-left us at the door of the theatre, and took the ladies home, while the rest of us went somewhere to supper. The latter arrangement was Holsterley's doing, for Ranger was disposed to make himself as generally disagreeable as persons in a similar condition usually do.

When we in our turn arrived at the hotel the General went off to bed-it was quite time too - and then Ranger, who evidently wanted to talk about himself, insisted upon taking me up to his room. On our way we passed the apartments occupied by our friends, and then Ranger, who dared not speak for fear of being overheard, pointed triumphantly to some objects lying on the door-mats.

At one entrance there were two pairs of boots, belonging to a lady and a gentleman respectively. At the other was a single pair, particularly small, and to an amateur in feet, I should say, justifying all the

praise that had been bestowed on them.

I dragged Ranger from the spot, where he seemed absurdly disposed to linger. When we reached his room he became guilty of rapturous conduct to a ridiculous degree, and then asked me, in a lucid interval, if I did not think him the happiest of men.

I declared my very high opinion of his state of bliss, and got away from him as soon as I could.

His must have been pleasant sleep that night-if he slept at all.

V.

I did not see my friend on the following day, but on the day following that he came to me with a message from Mrs. Merridew, asking me to dine with the Colonel and herself, who had a small party in their own apartments.

All was going right, he said, between himself and Miss Pembroke; and he had the advantage, he frankly confessed, of a great deal of backing up from Mrs. Merridew as well as from his uncle. I shall propose,' said he,' the very first opportunity-to-night if I get a chance.' He said nothing about feet this time -I suppose he thought his present relations with Miss Pembroke did not justify such a discussion. But I noticed when we met the ladies that they continued to wear robes so long as to preclude investigation into that particular.

At dinner Ranger was placed as a matter of course beside the blueeyed beauty, while she of the beaded black divided her attentions very pleasantly between the rest of usthe General and myself being the only other guests.

After dinner we all went to the theatre; and there also Ranger's seat in the box was next to that of Miss Pembroke. He had by this time got so far as to talk to her in whispers.

The box was rather crowded, and the General, the Colonel, and myself, were not sorry to go out for half an hour between the pieces. On our return I noticed that the blue eyes were much cast down, and that their

owner was constrained, and evidently indisposed for conversation. The

black eyes, on the contrary, were all animation and triumph, and their owner conversational to an unusual degree. I had my suspicions.

Ranger made a remark in the course of the evening which seemed mal-àpropos-I could not tell why at the time. There was a young lady on the stage playing the part of a soubrette, with skirts of course which made no mystery of a little foot and a well-turned ankle. Somebody made a remark that she was not quite so pretty as the author of the piece intended her to be.

'No,' said the General, who had a blunt way of expressing his opinion on the 'points' of ladies; 'but her feet are first-rate.'

I am an immense admirer of pretty feet,' said Ranger to his neighbour, in a voice intended doubtless for a whisper, but which was audible to the whole box.

Miss Pembroke drew herself up, blushed unmistakably, and I thought looked rather indignant. The compliment was perhaps rather too direct.

The General accompanied the Colonel and the ladies home this time. When Ranger and myself were left alone on the boulevard, Ranger clutched me by the shoulder, and said

All right, my boy!-congratulate me.'

I did congratulate him, and remarked that he seemed to have managed matters rather cleverly during our absence from the box.

'Well,' said he, Mrs. Merridew was very considerate; pushed her chair into a corner and said she had a headache, seemed, in fact, to be asleep; and I popped the question in the quietest inanner possible.'

'And received the answer in the same way?'

'Yes, as far as I got any answer at all; and perhaps I am not quite justified in saying that it's all right -she said nothing more than "Tomorrow!"'

And Ranger looked a little nervous at the new idea.

'Oh, I think you are safe if she

said that,' replied I, and I congratulated him over again.

We were to meet next day, according to an arrangement made in the course of the evening, to go and see the waters play at Versailles.

VI.

I was at the Grand Hôtel next day soon after noon. I met Ranger in the hall before presenting myself in the Merridews' domain. He was radiant with joy. Miss Pembr ke had not appeared at breakfast, but he had sought and obtained an interview with her immediately after, had renewed his suit, and had received the answer which might have been expected after her response of the night before.

'Now,' said Ranger, when he had told me these interesting particulars, we will go the Merridews' quarters the ladies ought to be ready by this time.'

There was nobody in the little salon when we entered; but in a few minutes the two ladies joined us.

A moment's glance at their costume revealed a fact which astonished me, and caused in Ranger nothing less than consternation. I could see what was working within him, though he tried to keep it in control.

Mrs. Merridew and Miss Pembroke were both attired in fashionable costumes which permitted the feet to be visible; and the unac countable fact became apparent that it was the elder lady who owned what Ranger called the Mice, while to the younger belonged the-I will not use the word which Ranger had ventured upon in his indignation, and the more so as the epithet in its signification as a satire on size was quite unjustified. Miss Pembroke's feet were not remarkably large. They were of very fair average dimensions, strictly proportionate to her figure, which was on a grander scale than that of her cousin. They were very good feet besides, and chaussé to perfection. But if diminutiveness were the object in view, no feet could hope to compete with those of Mis. Merridew. These were on so small