loath to close in sleep. It is true I had not gone to bed till
half-past eleven, but usually Sleep sat upon my pillow, and proceeded to
blindfold me a few minutes after my going to bed. To-night, upon
reaching my room, I had read and smoked, and smoked and read, until my
nerves had been brought back to their normal state. It fretted me not a
trifle to know that a girl from boarding-school had upset me. But the
ingenuous frankness of this young being, the unaffectedness which waited
upon her every movement, had wrought such demolition to my theories
that I was slow in recovering my equipoise of thought. At length I
strolled through a mazy vista to oblivion, surrounded by a dancing
throng of seraphs.

My rest was untroubled, and when I threw open my window-shutter the next
morning, and gazed out with sleep-blurred eyes, my first impression was
that things had become topsy-turvy, and that a soft sky studded with
stars lay before me. But as reason swiftly dominated my brain, I saw
that instead of the phenomenon which had at first seemed apparent, there
was only the bluegrass lawn thickly sown with dandelions, as though some
prodigal Croesus had strown his wealth of gold broadcast. Perhaps the
lowly, modest yellow flowers were but imitating the glittering orbs
which had looked down upon them throughout the night--who knows? For is
not reasoning man oftentimes just as vain, when he seeks to clothe
himself with a majesty which is not for mortals?

For several days I adhered to the plans which I had laid out before the
coming of Salome. I rode with the master about the farm, took my
solitary walks with Fido, as usual, and spent most of each evening in my
room, alone. If left to the dictates of my own will, there is no telling
how long this would have continued. But one morning, at breakfast, my
host surprised me with the words:

"Stone, you remember the old St. Rose church you spoke of? It's worth
looking at, but the Lord knows when I'll have a chance to go with you.
S'lome's a great favorite with the sisters over at St. Catherine's,
which is about a half mile from St. Rose, and I heard her tell mother
yesterday that she was going to ride over to pay her respects this
morning. Me and my folks are Presbyterians, but nearly all of our
neighbors are Catholics, and good people, and we like them. Now if you'd
like to go 'long, I don't s'pect S'lome'd mind showin' you 'bout the
place."

He looked at the daintily clad figure at my