the influence of tobacco on education? Why
will no one direct his attention to the inquiry as to how far the
Tony Butlers--a large class in the British Islands--are more moved to
exertion, or hopelessly muddled in intellect, by the soothing influences
of smoke?

Tony smoked on and on. He wrote home occasionally, and made three
attempts to write to Alice, who, despite his silence, had sent him a
very pleasant letter about home matters. It was not a neighborhood to
afford much news; and indeed, as she said, "they have been unusually
dull of late; scarcely any visitors, and few of the neighbors. We
miss your friend Skeff greatly; for, with all his oddities and
eccentricities, he had won upon us immensely by real traits of
generosity and high-mindedness. There is another friend of yours here
I would gladly know well, but she--Miss Stewart--retreats from all my
advances, and has so positively declined all our invitations to the
Abbey that it would seem to imply, if such a thing were possible, a
special determination to avoid us. I know you well enough, Master Tony,
to be aware that you will ascribe all my ardor in this pursuit to the
fact of there being an obstacle. As you once told me about a certain
short cut from Portrush, the only real advantage it had was a stiff
four-foot wall which must be jumped; but you are wrong, and you are
unjust,--two things not at all new to you. My intentions here were
really good. I had heard from your dear mother that Miss Stewart was in
bad health,--that fears were felt lest her chest was affected. Now, as
the doctors concurred in declaring that Bella must pass one winter, at
least, in a warm climate, so I imagined how easy it would be to extend
the benefit of genial air and sunshine to this really interesting girl,
by offering, to take her as a companion. Bella was charmed with my
project, and we walked over to the Burn-side on Tuesday to propose it in
all form.

"To the shame of our diplomacy we failed completely. The old minister,
indeed, was not averse to the plan, and professed to think it a most
thoughtful attention on our part; but Dolly,--I call her Dolly, for it
is by that name, so often recurring in the discussion, I associate
her best with the incident,--Dolly was peremptory in her refusal. I
wanted,--perhaps a little unfairly,--I wanted to hear her reasons. I
asked if there might not possibly be something in her objections to
which we could reply. I pressed her to reconsider t