being a favorite, didn't she receive so much sympathy that
there was a constant court before and around her throne? and above it
all, don't you suppose a certain pair of eyes, as they looked at her
that day, told her a certain story more plainly than the owner's lips
ever could? That she was the fairest and dearest picture to him, there,
or elsewhere?

"Who is that young lady--little girl, I am almost disposed to call her,
with the fresh young face and lovely eyes? The one who stands on the
bank, there, with the wreath of leaves on her hat?"

Mrs. Raymond's brother asked the question, as he sat with his sister on
an elevated spot under a big tree, surveying the gay crowds roaming
about in all directions.

"That? It is one of the Dering twins," answered Mrs. Raymond, with a
smile of interest. "But I don't know which; they are not to be
distinguished; they are lovely girls, so fresh and unaffected. I suppose
you have noticed them both?"

"Yes, and I disagree with you, for they are to be distinguished; I have
been watching them with considerable interest. There; the other one is
coming down the hill now; do you mean to tell me that you see no
difference?"

"Well, surely not in face or figure," replied Mrs. Raymond, with a
puzzled glance. "I see that the new-comer's hat is hanging to her neck,
and has no trimming, that her gloves are gone, and she has the general
appearance of having gone through a wind-mill."

"And you have struck the distinction admirably, my dear," was the
smiling answer. "There was something in their faces that interested me
this morning, and I have noticed them a great deal. So far as I can see,
the one has had just as gay a time as the other, and done very nearly as
much romping; and yet you see, she looks as fresh and sweet as when
starting out, with the addition of much becoming trimming; and where she
has gone heartily, yet with a girlish grace, the other has gone
pell-mell, as though in defiance of any restriction on feminine gender.
Do you know which is which?"

"Indeed, I do not," said Mrs. Raymond, who was not acquainted with the
characteristics of the twins. "All I know is that one is Kittie and the
other Kat, and that I never know which is which when I am talking to
them, never having had time to study them up."

"Well, I will wager my shoe-buckle, that the one on the bank is Kittie,
and the hatless one Kat," was the quiet response. "At least, that is the
way it ought to be. Now I