THE LIEUTENANT'S STORY CONCLUDED. 285 
the street lamp^ or the broad flood of radiance that 
poured out from the windows of the toy-shop just beyond, 
he could not tell ; but the rear platform was illuminated 
by a pure, steady glow, in the very centre of which stood 
the conductor, smiling, and waving his hand. No sign of 
a Shadow ; not a bit of it. Mr. Broadstreet looked care- 
fully about him, but it was nowhere to be seen. Even 
the snow, which all this time continued to fall without 
interruption, seemed to fill the air with tiny lamps of 
soft light. 
Ah, that toy-shop ! Such heaps of blocks, and mar- 
bles, and sleds ; such dolls with eyes that would wink 
upside down, exactly like a hen's ; such troops of horses 
and caravans of teams ; such jangling of toy pianos, and 
tooting of toy horns, and shrieking of toy whistles (these 
instruments being anxiously tested by portly papas and 
mammas, apparently to be sure of a good bargain, but 
really for the fun of the thing) ; such crowds of good- 
natured people, carrying canes and drums and hoop-sticks 
under their arms, taking and giving thrusts of these arti- 
cles, and being constantly pushed and pulled and jammed 
and trodden upon with the most delightful good-humor ; 
such rows of pretty girls behind the counters, now climb- 
ing to the summits of Ararats, where innumerable Noah's- 
Arks of all sizes had been stranded, — all these girls being 
completely used up with the day's work, of course, but 
more cheerful and willing than ever, bless them ! such 
scamperings to and fro of cash-boys, and diving into the 
