your advice, you know, and
all that sort of thing, you know."

"Well, do you know, Mr. Rivers," said Katie, "that's my strong point.
I always have at my disposal any amount of sympathy; and as for
advice, why, I could begin and go on advising, and advising, and
advising, from now till--well, not to be too extravagant, I'll merely
say till doomsday. So now--won't you begin?"

CHAPTER VII.

IN WHICH HARRY BECOMES CONFIDENTIAL, AND TELLS A VERY REMARKABLE
STORY.

Harry paused a little longer, and then said, "Well, you see, the
friend that I wanted to see is a lady."

"Of course," said Katie; "that's a self-evident fact. I know that,
and she is your ladylove. But I want to know all about her, and,
first of all, her name."

"I didn't think that you thought I was thinking of a lady," said
Harry.

"What a ridiculous observation!" said Katie; "and I know you only say
that to tease me, when you know I'm so curious about this friend of
yours."

"Well," said Harry, "in the first place, her name is Talbot."

"Talbot? What else?"

"Sydney--Sydney Talbot."

"Sydney Talbot! But that isn't a girl's name; it's a man's name."

"At any rate," said Harry, "it's her name."

"Well, but hasn't she some pet name--something more feminine, such as
'Minnie,' for instance, or 'Nellie,' or 'Kittie,' or 'Florrie,' or
something of that sort?"

"No; her only name is Sydney Talbot. You see, Sydney is a family
name, and had to be perpetuated. She had no brothers, and so it was
given to her. Her father's name was also Sydney Talbot, and her
grandfather's, and--"

"And her great-grandfather's," chimed in Katie, "and so on up to
Noah; but his name, at any rate, was not Sydney Talbot. Now this is a
very romantic beginning, so go on. I will only remark that I intend
to be great friends with your wife some day, and that I've made up my
mind to call her 'Syddie.' She is actually pining for a pet name. But
what do you call her?"

"I? Oh, I call her Miss Talbot."

"Miss! You call her Miss--Talbot? What a horrible idea! And you
pretend to love her!" cried Katie, reproachfully.

"Well--but, you know, Sydney is too stiff."

"Then why not invent a name? Call her 'Poppet,' or 'Topsy,' or
'Fifine,' or 'Rosie,' or 'Gracie.' Why, I could supply you with fifty
or sixty names on the spot. But this is all idle trifling. Go on and
tell me more. Give a full and complete account of yourself and your
'own one.'"

"Well, you know, I'm doi