1895. 



THE AMERICAN BEE-KEEPER. 



341 



ON THE STAIHa. 



We were sitting after waltzing 



On tlie st;iirs. 

 He, before I could forbid it, 

 Stole a rose ere jet I missed it, 

 And, as tenderly he kissed it. 

 Swiftly in his pocket hid it 



Unawares. 



T7e were talking after waltzing 



On the stairs. 

 I had said that he should rue it» 

 And a lecture I intended, 

 Which I think he apprehended; 

 I was kissed before I knew it. 



Unawares. 



We were silent after waltzing 



On the stairs. 

 I had stormed with angry feeling, 

 But he spoke love, never heeding. 

 And my eyes fell 'neath his pleadings 

 All my depth of love revealing 



Unawares. 



—Boston Courier. 



A PSTCHIC CYCLIST. 



BY J. H CONNELLT. 



[Copyright, 1895, by American Press Associa- 

 tion.] 



With suspicion and dislike Miss 

 Kate Craig, seated on the porch, 

 eyed Mr. Fitz-Maurice Rodney, the 

 sleek, "well groomed, good looking 

 gentleman entering the garden gate 

 in company with her host, Mr. Pey- 

 ton. She had preserved the faculty, 

 common in childhood, but generally 

 lost in later life, of intuitional 

 knowledge of character, a truly psy- 

 chic sense, and was wonderfully cor- 

 rect in her judgment upon those 

 •with whom she came in contact. 

 But almost anybody would have 

 said she had certainly made a mis- 

 take in the case of Mr. Rodney. 

 Generally he made a decidedly fa- 

 vorable impression. He not only 

 looked well, but his manners were 

 excellent and even distinguished. 

 And he was believed to be^li. The 

 pretext of an important land "deal" 

 had brought him toDanfield and ac- 

 quaintance with Mr, Peyton, and 

 though there had been much delay 

 in consummating that transaction 



it was not to be wondered at, since he 

 had become so much engrossed with 

 paying court to Miss Selina Peyton to 

 care for mere sordid business. Yet Miss 

 Craig was innately conscious that he was 

 a rascal and once hinted as much to Mr. 

 Pej'ton very mildly. He received the 

 idea so badly, almost seeming to deem 

 her suspicion a sort of sacrilege, that she 

 fain to pass it off lightly as a jest, phil- 

 osophically reflecting : " After all, what 

 is it to me if he iswindles my landlord, 

 who wishes it and needs it as a lesson ? 

 But I am sorry for poor Selina." 



Mr. and Mrs. Peyton were infatuated 

 with the man and wished nothing more 

 than that he should marry their daugh- 

 ter, while she — a gentle, innocent girl, 

 with a dominant instinct of obedience — 

 would never have dreamed of rebelling 

 against their manifest wish, even if she 

 had had a dislike for the man. 



To avoid meeting her bete noir at the 

 dinner table Miss Oaig mounted her bi- 

 C3'cle and went awa}' for a long ride. 

 Ten months in the year she was a city 

 schoolteacher, and the exhilarating free- 

 dom of long rural rides during her sum- 

 mer vacation was not simply enjoyment 

 but ecstasy to her. 



At dusk she returned, and as she and 

 Selina stood together at the gate in the 

 gathering darkness, with their arms 

 about each other's waists, the latter 

 whispered timidly, "I'm going to be 

 married." 



Kate was startled, even shocked, and 

 remained silent until the prospective 

 bride whispered in a tone of gentle re- 

 proach, "You do not seem glad." Then, 

 trying her best to make some such re- 

 sponse as would be expected, she could 

 only say evasivelj' : *!'• Indeed you have 

 my very best w;?,hr!s for 3'cur happiness. 

 But I was surprised. Is it nut a little 

 sudden?" 



" Yes. It was nnt to be before fall 



