A Sportsman 221 



cheap boarding-house where he lived, whom he ac- 

 counted to be a most extraordinary beauty of much 

 spirit and wit, and who he predicted would yet have 

 some prominence in the world the lovely Miss Jane 

 Dare (an assumed name), the daughter of the widowed 

 landlady, who made vests for a clothing house at the 

 munificent sum of two or three dollars a week. Her 

 father had been at one time a well-to-do merchant, 

 who conducted a line of sailing vessels to some foreign 

 port, but left his wife and only child penniless. It may 

 be assumed that the subject was one of no particular 

 interest to me, but from frequent mention of the ex- 

 cellent qualities of Miss Dare my curiosity was aroused, 

 and I finally said to Edwards, "Invite me down to 

 supper some night, so I can view this prodigy of exal- 

 tation," little imagining that I should become a feature 

 in the future career of this sprightly Jane Dare. 



How casual and slight are the circumstances affect- 

 ing the lives and destinies of mortals. Accordingly, as 

 a lamb to the shambles, I accompanied Edwards down 

 one evening to the dingy brick structure, on a side 

 street, where he obtained his fried chops and lodgings 

 for three dollars and a half a week, and where the rosy- 

 cheeked Jane dispensed hot biscuits and doubtful jam 

 to half a dozen embryotic merchants of Edwards 's type. 

 The butter was strong and the tea was weak, and the 

 muffins of uncertain stability; but Jane, Jane, Jane! 

 she was as radiant as a butterfly's wing and looked as 

 sweet as an apple blossom; of medium stout build, 

 fair complexion, blue eye and golden hair. She gave 

 me a hearty welcome as the friend of Edwards, and I 

 scarcely regarded her excepting what I could take in 

 at a glance, as I observed the somewhat suspicious 



