nursery-cry,' she whispered to me,
to-night;' and I missed her soon after. When I went away, I, of course, sought the master of the house to say good-night. He half rose, with a half smile, in recognition of my adieu, and re-settled himself, apparently wholly unconscious of any possible occasion for further effort! But the climax, in true epic style, was reserved for the finale. It was a frightfully stormy night, and when we came down to the street door to go away, there stood M——, in her thin dress, the cold wind and sleet-rain rushing in when the door was opened, enough to carry away her fairy figure, seeing off her friend and his bride!"
"My dear Miss C——," exclaimed a gentleman after listening to the complaint of a lady who had just been charging the lords of creation with the habitual discourtesy of retaining their hats when speaking to ladies, in stores and shops, as well as in public halls and even in the drawing-room; "My dear Miss C——, don't you know that 'Young America' always wears his hat and boots whenever he can?"
"Does he sleep in them?" inquired the lady.
"Well, my dears," I overheard a high-bred and exceedingly handsome man inquiring of two lovely English girls, on board a steamer the other day, "how did you succeed in your efforts to dine to-day? I will not again permit you to be separated from your aunt and me, if we find the table ever so crowded."
"But we had Charley, you know, sir," returned one of the fair interlocutors, with a smile worthy of Hebe herself.
"True, but Charley is only a child; and boys as well as women fare ill at public tables in this 'land of liberty and equality,' unless aided by some powerful assistant!"