ale clerks who were married, and a
red-headed boy of sixteen, who was small for his age.

On the evening when my tale begins, Miss Almira, tastefully attired
for her night's rest in a white nightgown trimmed with blue lace, was
peeping under the bed for the ever-possible man, the nightly rite
preliminary to her prayers. She fell back gasping in a vain attempt to
scream, but not a sound could she give vent to. The precaution of
years had been justified. _There lay a man!_ He was habited in a very
genteel frock-suit, patent-leather shoes, and although it must have
caused him some inconvenience in his recumbent position, upon his head
was a correct plug hat. The elegance and respectability of his garb
somewhat reassured Miss Almira, who was unable to believe that one so
apparelled could have secreted himself under her bed for an evil
purpose, when a new fear seized her, for arguing from this assumption,
she concluded he must have been placed there by others and was, in
short, dead. Whereupon, having to some degree recovered possession of
herself, she was opening her mouth to scream at this new terror, when
the man spoke.

"Listen before you scream, I pray thee, beauteous lady, darling of my
life, pearl of my desires, star of my hopes."

The strangeness of the address and the unaccustomed epithets caused
Miss Almira to forbear, for she could not hear what he had to say and
scream at the same time, and, moreover, she remembered how twenty
years before, Jake Long had fled, never to return to her side, when
after telling her she was the sweetest thing in the world, she had
screamed as his arms clasped about her in a bearish hug.

"Fair lady, ornament of your sex, hear the words of your ardent
admirer before you blast his hopes."

As he uttered these words, the stranger extricated himself from his
undignified position and sat down in a rocking chair before the
bureau. Miss Almira was more than ever prepossessed as she saw he wore
white kid gloves and that in his shirt front gleamed a large diamond.
He removed his hat, disclosing a heavy crop of black hair. He had blue
eyes and a strong, clean-shaven face.

"For some time I have observed you and wondered how I was to realize
my fondest hopes and make your acquaintance. All day you are in the
office, where the two married men and the red-headed boy are always
_de trop_. My employment is of a nature that takes me out nights. In
fact, I teach a night school for Italians. To-