e stools creaked, the candles danced in their sockets,
and every one sat mute while the four white hands chased one another up
and down the keys, and the two fine faces beamed with such ecstasy that
we almost expected to see instrument and performers disappear in a
musical whirlwind.

Lake Leman will never seem so lovely again as when Laddie and I roamed
about its shores, floated on its bosom, or laid splendid plans for the
future in the sunny garden of the old chateau. I tried it again last
year, but the charm was gone, for I missed my boy with his fun, his
music, and the frank, fresh affection he gave his 'little mamma,' as he
insisted on calling the lofty spinster who loved him like half-a-dozen
grandmothers rolled into one.

December roses blossomed in the gardens then, and Laddie never failed to
have a posy ready for me at dinner. Few evenings passed without
'confidences' in my corner of the salon, and I still have a pile of
merry little notes which I used to find tucked under my door. He called
them chapters of a great history we were to write together, and being a
'_polisson_' he illustrated it with droll pictures, and a funny mixture
of French and English romance.

It was very pleasant, but like all pleasant things in this world of
change it soon came to an end. When I left for Italy we jokingly agreed
to meet in Paris the next May, but neither really felt that we should
ever meet again, for Laddie hardly expected to outlive the winter, and I
felt sure I should soon be forgotten. As he kissed my hand there were
tears in my boy's eyes, and a choke in the voice that tried to say
cheerfully--

'_Bon voyage_, dear and good little mamma. I do not say adieu, but _au
revoir_.'

Then the carriage rolled away, the wistful face vanished, and nothing
remained to me but the memory of Laddie, and a little stain on my glove
where a drop had fallen.

As I drew near Paris six months later, and found myself wishing that I
might meet Varjo in the great, gay city, and wondering if there was any
chance of my doing it, I never dreamed of seeing him so soon; but, as I
made my way among the crowd of passengers that poured through the
station, feeling tired, bewildered, and homesick, I suddenly saw a blue
and white cap wave wildly in the air, then Laddie's beaming face
appeared, and Laddie's eager hands grasped mine so cordially that I
began to laugh at once, and felt that Paris was almost as good as home.

'Ah, ha! behold the