KIDD’S OWN JOURNAL. 

331 

sex. ‘ Nelly” very wisely studied the man of 
her choice before taking him “for better for 
worse.” She asked herself one or two leading 
questions concerning him, and resolved to 
test whether certain ‘“ professions ” made, 
proceeded from a feeling of love. We admire 
this caution vastly. What did it not save 
her from? Young ladies! take a lesson from 
“ Nelly’s ”’ book. 
If we are asked whether a man ought to be 
subject to so severe an ordeal, we hardly 
know what to answer. He must indeed be a 
hero ¢f he withstood the artifices of a “ bril- 
liant sparkling brunette.” But as our object 
is to point out the danger of temptation, and 
to urge people to shun what they have no 
philosophy to resist,—we leave our readers to 
draw their own inference from our premises. 
Knowing what human nature is, we simply 
add,—beware! ; 
Kate Stanley was a brilliant, sparkling 
brunette. Woe to the rash youth who 
exposed his heart to her fascinations! If he 
were not annihilated by the witching glance 
of her bright eye, he would be sure to be 
caught by the dancing dimple that played 
“hide and seek” so roguishly in her rosy 
cheek ;: or the little rounded waist that sup- 
ported her faultless bust; or the tiny feet 
that crept in and out from under the sweep- 
ing folds of her silken robe. 
I am sorry to say Miss Kitty was an arrant 
coquette. She angled for hearts with the 
skill of a practised sportsman ; and was never 
satisfied till she saw them quivering and 
bleeding at her feet. Then, they might 
flounce, and flutter, and twist, and writhe at 
their leisure—it was no further concern of 
hers. She was off for a new subject. 
One fine morning she sat listlessly in her 
boudoir, tapping one little foot upon the floor, 
and sighing for a new sensation, when a note 
was handed to her. It ran thus:—‘“ Dear 
Kitty,——Our little cottage home is looking 
lovely this ‘leafy June.’ Axe you not weary 
of city life? Come and spend a month with 
us, and refresh heart and body. You will 
find nothing artificial here, save yourself !— 
Yours, Nelly.” 
“ Just the thing!” said Kitty. ‘ But the 
girl must be crazy, or intolerably vain, to 
bring me into such close contact with her 
handsome lover. I might as well try to stop 
breathing as to stop flirting; and the country, 
of all places, for a flirtation! The girl must 
be non compos. However, it’s her own afiair, 
not mine ;” and she glanced triumphantly at 
her beautiful face, and threaded her fingers 
through her long ringlets, and conquered him 
—in imagination ! 
% * Ls A 
“When do you expect your friend?” said 
a laughing young girl to Nelly. “ From the 
descriptions I have had of her, your bringing 

her here will be something akin to the intro- 
duction of Satan into Paradise. You would 
not find me guilty of such a folly were I 
engaged to your handsome Fitz. Now, you 
know, Nelly dear, that although you are 
fascinating and intellectual, you have no pre- 
tensions to beauty, and there are few men 
who prize a gem unless it is handsomely set, 
however great its value. Now be warned in 
time, and send him off on a pilgrimage till 
her visit is over. I won't bet on his con- 
stancy !” 
“On the contrary,” said Nelly, as she 
rose slowly from the little couch where she 
was reclining (and her small figure grew 
erect, and her large eyes lustrous); “I 
would marry no man who could not pass 
through such an ordeal and remain true to 
me. Iam, as you see, hopelessly plain and 
ungraceful; yet, from my earliest childhood, I 
have been a passionate worshipper of beauty. 
I never expected to win love. I never 
expected to marry; and when Fitz, with all 
his matchless beauty, sued for my hand, I 
could not convince myself that it was not all 
a bewildering dream. It was such a tempta- 
tion to a heart so isolated as mine; and 
eloquently it pleaded for itself! When I 
drank in the music of his voice, I said, 
‘Surely, I must be lovely in his eyes, else 
why has he sought me?’ Then, in my soli- 
tary moments, I said, sadly, ‘There are none 
to dispute the prize with me here. He is 
deceiving himself.. He has mistaken his 
own heart.’ Then, again, I would ask myself, 
‘Can nothing but beauty win a noble heart ? 
Are all my intellectual gifts valueless ?’ 
And still Fitz, unable to understand my 
contradictory moods, passionately urged his 
suit. It needed not that waste of eloquence. 
My heart was already captive. And now, by 
the intensity of that happiness of which I 
know myself to be capable, I will prove him. 
Kate’s beauty, Kate’s witchery shall be the 
test! If his heart remains loyal to me, lam 
his. If not’”—and her cheek grew pale, and 
tears gathered slowly in her eyes—“I have 
saved myself a deeper misery !”’ 
Fitz-Allan had “ travelled ;” and that is 
generally understood to mean to go abroad, 
and remain a period of time long enough to 
grow a fierce beard and fiercer moustache, 
and cultivate a thorough contempt for every- 
thing in your own country. This was not 
true of Fitz-Allan. It had only bound him 
the more closely to home and friends. His 
elegant person and cultivated manners had 
been a letter of recommendation to him in 
cultivated society. He was no fop; and yet 
he was fully aware of these personal advan- 
tages. What handsome man is not? He 
had trophies of all kinds to attest his skilful 
generalship; such as dainty satin slippers, 
tiny kid gloves, faded roses, ringlets of all 
