ep
her; she's too cursedly extravagant. It's jolly to have this sort of
concern on hand; but I'd rather Seymour'd pay her bills than I."

"Who thought you were so practical, Dan?"

"Practical! that I am; I'm an old bird. Take my advice, boys, now:
keep shy of the girls, and flirt with the married ones,--then you
don't get roped in."

"I say, boys," said Tom Nichols, "isn't she a case, now? What a head
she has! I bet she can smoke equal to any of us."

"Yes; I keep her in cigarettes," said Danforth; "she's got a box of
them somewhere under her ruffles now."

"What if Seymour should find them?" said Tom.

"Seymour? pooh! he's a muff and a prig. I bet you he won't find her
out; she's the jolliest little humbugger there is going. She'd cheat a
fellow out of the sight of his eyes. It's perfectly wonderful."

"How came Seymour to marry her?"

"He? Why, he's a pious youth, green as grass itself; and I suppose she
talked religion to him. Did you ever hear her talk religion?"

A roar of laughter followed this, out of which Danforth went on. "By
George, boys, she gave me a prayer-book once! I've got it yet."

"Well, if that isn't the best thing I ever heard!" said Nichols.

"It was at the time she was laying siege to me, you see. She undertook
the part of guardian angel, and used to talk lots of sentiment.
The girls get lots of that out of George Sand's novels about the
_holiness_ of doing just as you've a mind to, and all that," said
Danforth.

"By George, Dan, you oughtn't to laugh. She may have more good in her
than you think."

"Oh, humbug! don't I know her?"

"Well, at any rate she's a wonderful creature to hold her looks. By
George! how she _does_ hold out! You'd say, now, she wasn't more than
twenty."

"Yes; she understands getting herself up," said Danforth, "and touches
up her cheeks a bit now and then."

"She don't paint, though?"

"Don't paint! _Don't_ she? I'd like to know if she don't; but she does
it like an artist, like an old master, in fact."

"Or like a young mistress," said Tom, and then laughed at his own wit.

Now, it so happened that John was sitting at an open window above, and
heard occasional snatches of this conversation quite sufficient to
impress him disagreeably. He had not heard enough to know exactly what
had been said, but enough to feel that a set of coarse, low-minded men
were making quite free with the name and reputation of his Lillie; and
he was indignant.

"She is s