ve so wanted you to meet. Jack, I have written you of my friend
Isabel Merryweather. Oh, oh, my dears! It was so beautiful! So
beautiful! And I am so happy,--I really think I am going to cry!"

"Oh, don't!" cried Bell and Jack together; and the sheer terror in their
voices made Hildegarde laugh instead.

"And you thought it was I!" she cried, still a little hysterical. "Jack,
how could you? I thought better of you!"

"I--I didn't see how it could be," said honest Jack. "I didn't see how
you could possibly have done it in two years, or,--or in a lifetime, for
that matter; but how could I suppose,--how could I know--"

"You couldn't, of course. Oh, and to think of all the delight you are
going to give us, the two of you! Jack, your playing is--I can't tell
you what it is. My dear, I am afraid to light the lamp. Shall I see a
totally different Jack from the old one? You have learned such an
infinity, haven't you?"

"I should be a most hopeless muff if I hadn't learned something!" said
her cousin. "But you needn't be afraid to light the lamp, Hilda. You
will see the ostrich, or the giraffe, or the kangaroo, whichever you
prefer. But first I must thank Miss Merryweather for playing so
delightfully. You have played with the violin before, of course? I felt
that instantly."

There was no reply; for Bell, feeling simply, desperately, that she must
get away, must relieve the two cousins of her presence, since it could
not by any possibility be welcome, had seen her moment, and slipped
quietly out while Hildegarde was busy with the lamp.

The light sprang up, and both looked eagerly round.

"Why, she is gone!" cried Jack. "I say! And I never thanked her. What an
idiot she must think me!"

"She thought nothing of the sort," said Hildegarde. "She is the most
modest, unselfish creature in the world, and she thought we would rather
be without her. I know her!"

"Well, I suppose she was right," yet Hildegarde fancied a shade of
regret in his hearty tone; "anyhow, she is a brick, isn't she?"

"How would you define a brick?" asked Hildegarde, demurely.

"A musician," said Jack, emphatically; "and a--a good fel--Oh, well, you
know what I mean, Hilda! And isn't it pretty hard, now, when a fellow
has been away two years, that he should come back and have the girl of
his heart begin to tease him within five minutes? Oh, I say, Hilda, how
well you're looking! You have grown prettier; I didn't suppose you could
grow prettier. Wo