189/ 



THE AMERWAN BEE KEEPER. 



19 



THE STRANGE GUEST. 



He brought a branch of olive. 



This stronger guost of min*. 

 Could I dt^iiy hii.i t-ntrauce 



Who bore the peaceful sign? 

 Ah, no! I bade him welcome; 



I set him meat and wine. 

 But -^-hile ho drank and feasted 



How laughed his ey«« diirlnel 



I toofe the branch of oliv«, 



The S'lothest prlant that grows, 

 And from the carven ceiling 



I hun^ it with the rose. 

 "But why to me this token 



Who never lacked repose? 

 Why this to me," I questioned, 



"Who knows nor feud nor foes?" 



He smiled beneath the olive, 



This strangest stranger guest. 

 A branch from oft" the thorn tree 



Had told liis errand best. 

 For since my house he entered 



There's ne'er a heart at rest. 

 To mock me with the olive I 



But love doth love his jest. 



—Edith M. Thomas. 



EOMAKCE OF A FLAT. 



Mr. Ogglesby Possiter smoothed out 

 his cards, and, with great deliberation, 

 laid them before him on the table, 

 leaned back in his chair and gazed in- 

 tently at his wife. 



"Well, I never I You've gone and 

 trumped my ace on the second hand 

 around," he cried. 



Mrs. Oggl'^sby Possiter's fine eye- 

 brows arched perceptibly. 



"Oh, how stupid of me I" she ex- 

 claimed. "Really, my dear, I wasn't 

 thinking when I did it." 



"It is but just that in payment for so 

 charming a partner you should waste a 

 few trumps," said Lieutenant Swash 

 gallantly. 



This compliment rather conciliated 

 Mr. Possiter, for he picked up his hand 

 and said: "My wife can play good 

 whist, but when she gets talking her 

 game is abominable — atrocious. She" — 



"It is your lead," interrupted I, with 

 a glance at my fair opponent. 



She played a two of hearts, and Swash 

 followed with a three. Then my wife 

 entered the game by venturing from the 

 corner where she sat at some fancy 

 work: "Do go ou, Mrs. Possiter. You 

 were saying that your cousin. Jack 

 Dimly, was not acceptable to Mr. Pyn 



as a Hon-m-law. " 



Mr. Possiter sighed, and his wife, 

 after following suit on my lead of clubs, 

 took up the thread of her tale. 



"To me thera is a great deal that is 

 romantic about a flat, commonplace 

 things though they generally are. I 

 know that when I was first married it 

 aeemed to me as if I w«fi in a fairy peil- 

 ac« when every morning there came a 

 lo^ whistle at the speaking tub«, and 

 then a rattle in our dear little kitchen, 

 and I would run out and just throw 

 open a little door, and there before me 

 was everything for breakfast — a scuttle 

 of coal, milk, eggs and bread. It was aa 

 though some genii, some invisible spir- 

 its, were serving me. I just used to 

 dote"— 



"My dear," exclaimed the fair story 

 teller's husband as he for a moment stop- 

 ped dealing, "if you can find me a flat 

 house where they have genii as janitors 

 I'll move at once. " 



"Of course I know yon have to tip 

 them; but, Ogglesby, you are so prosaic. 

 You have no romance at all. I knew the 

 janitor did it all, but then there was no 

 reason why I should always — Oh, I 

 beg pardon. It is my lead. Anyway 

 Jack Dimly and Evangeline Pyn had 

 the loveliest adventure, the most ro- 

 mantic" — 



"There you go, leading spades when 

 I signaled for trumps," cried Mr. Pos- 

 siter, thumping the table testily. 



"Dear, how stupid! I saw you frown- 

 ing and thought you wanted a black 

 card." 



"I played a six spot, then a two on 

 Mr. Dockboy's lead," retorted Possiter. 

 "You made the same mistake two hands 

 ago, when the lieutenant led the three 

 of spades. " 



"You shall have the trumps very first 

 chance I get," said his wife. "I don't 

 see why you always interrupt the game. 

 My lead? There! Well, when Mr. Pyn 

 found out that Evangeline had made up 

 her mind to marry my cousin. Jack 

 Dimly, in spite of his poverty, he deter- 

 mined to use every means in his power 

 to keep them apart, and to accomplish 

 this he had virtually to keep his daugh- 

 ter a prisoner. He took a flat on the 

 sixth floor of a house so as to have her 

 as high up as possible, and removed the 

 fire escape to cut oflf that means of exit, 

 He kept no servant for fear that if he 



