ave mentioned repeatedly? On coming to town, he found his
country-acquaintance in a social position which seemed to discourage his
continued intimacy. He had discovered, however; that he was a not
unwelcome visitor, and had kept up friendly relations with her. But
there was no truth in the current reports,--none at all.'

Some months had passed, after this visit, when I happened one evening to
stroll into a box in one of the principal theatres of the city. A small
party sat on the seats before me: a middle-aged gentleman and his lady,
in front, and directly behind them my young doctor and the same very
handsome young lady I had seen him walking with on the sidewalk before
the swell-fronts and south-exposures. As Professor Langdon seemed to be
very much taken up with his companion, and both of them looked as if they
were enjoying themselves, I determined not to make my presence known to
my young friend, and to withdraw quietly after feasting my eyes with the
sight of them for a few minutes.

"It looks as if something might come of it," I said to myself. At that
moment the young lady lifted her arm accidentally in such a way that the
light fell upon the clasp of a chain which encircled her wrist. My eyes
filled with tears as I read upon the clasp, in sharp-cut Italic letters,
E. Y. They were tears at once of sad remembrance and of joyous
anticipation; for the ornament on which I looked was the double pledge of
a dead sorrow and a living affection. It was the golden bracelet,--the
parting-gift of Elsie Venner. the golden bracelet,--the parting-gift of
Elsie Venner.

THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

by Oliver Wendell Holmes

TO MY READERS.

"A new Preface" is, I find, promised with my story. If there are any
among my readers who loved Aesop's Fables chiefly on account of the Moral
appended, they will perhaps be pleased to turn backward and learn what I
have to say here.

This tale forms a natural sequence to a former one, which some may
remember, entitled "Elsie Venner." Like that,--it is intended for two
classes of readers, of which the smaller one includes the readers of the
"Morals" in Aesop and of this Preface.

The first of the two stories based itself upon an experiment which some
thought cruel, even on paper. It imagined an alien element introduced
into the blood of a human being before that being saw the light. It
showed a human nature developing itself in conflict with the ophidian
characteri