Woman's Choice —The Story Of A Hero.

be present , who Avould try the challenger ' s mettle ; ancl Avith a gayand meaning g lance at the iady , who stood at the hall door with Claire , he galloped off Avith his attendants . N . T . Dispatch .

Under Currents.

UNDER CURRENTS .

THOSE of us AVIIO have ever loitered by the classic shores Avhich , some eloquent writer tells us , "the blue Mediterranean laves , " or have sailed complacently on its fair expanse , are Avell aware that there is in some parts of the Mediterranean , and especially in the Straits of

Gibraltar—, though everywhere , in truth more or less , — an under current of great strength ancl greater rapidity . You may be apparently moving on sloAvly through the froivning Straits , and have left the pillars of Hercules behind you , as you think ; you may be

hoping soon to pass Tarifa , and catch a glimpse of the white walls and houses . of Cadiz , to say nothing of the young ladies immortalised by Lord Byron , when , lo ancl behold ! all the Avhile , a hidden force is making you drift irresistibly upon African reefs .

It has often occurred to me IIOAV true this description still is of society ; the very society in Avhich we live and die , and spend our hurrying years , and in Avhich Ave develope our normal and our moral being . HOAV often , for instance , all is fair and calm

on the surface , like the deceitful ocean , sometimes before a gale , where all is smooth as g lass , still as a " duck-pond , " only to be folloAved by tho tempestuous hurricane . So in society , you may be at ease , and full of fun and security and yet all the Avhile there is an under current of difficulty or danger of detraction or intri gue hard at work .

People often act very strangely , aud to say the truth , very dirtily in society . They nccept all your hospitality , they enjoy all your good things , they praise your children ancl your champagne , your dinner and your daughtersyour house and horses

, your , your pictures and your pine-apples ; they laud the Avife of your bosom , and laugh a " t your OAVII little jokes , aud yet all the while they are burnishing up the barbed arrow of illnatured gossip , or preparing the pointed shaft of agreeable detraction !

They leave your house smiling and ko-tooing to the last , " Never spent s delightful an evening , " " HOAV charming th party has been , " such are their sweet aim friendly words of adieu . Nay , they eA'e add , as if by way of a Parthian compliment "HOAV charming clear Jemima is looking "

, " How much little Puggy has groAvn . " But if you could hear their coiiA'ersation as they Avend their homeAvard Avay , and Avhen they have reached the Briton ' s castle , hoAV your face would redden and your ears Avould tingle .

Round the fire in the draAving-room , the girls tear to pieces the dress of your Avife , ancl the corsage of your daughters . Jones says to Buggius , over a glass of Avhiskey toddy , " By-the-Avay B , Avhat deuced bad

sherry Popkms gave us to-day , 2 is . dinnei sherry and no mistake ; ancl as for the champagne , it Avas supper champagne at 2 Gs . Give me a little more of that Ghnlivat , old boy , " Mrs . Buggins , as she begins her curtain lectureasks Buggins . whopoor felloAV ,

, , wants to go to sleep , if he does not think that Mrs . Popkins is getting very coarse and fat , and dresses very badly , and that her daughters are A'ery fast 1 To all of which Buggins only replies by a subdued snore . Thus all your labour has been in vainall

, your expense and " agremeus" have been thrown away , the under current of society has SAvept your little bark on to the hidden reefs of its dirty and treacherous lee-shore .

Or again , there is young Tri ptolermis Jones who thinks that he is getting on in society and the Avorld ; and so , in a fashion he is . He is fairly off , well got up , not altogether ill-informed , ancl tries to make

himself agreeable . He fancies that he pleases the ladies especially . He has certainly made one or two hits , and has raised a merry laugh from Matilda Trotter and a i-inging echo from Emily Lane . Even Bolsover , Avho is always jealous of

him , condescended to smile ; aud old Mrs . MclA'er ( not the Flora of p leasant memory ) took a pinch of snuff—she really did—the old gal , and remarked , " Varra Avoel for a young mon . " ' So Jones goes home radiant and happy . Poor fellow 1 Emily Lane , in the mean Avhile , h ? tsaid