The Adventures Of Don Pasquale.

THE ADVENTURES OF DON PASQUALE .

13 Y THE AUTHOB OF THE " OLD , OLD STOKY . " CHAPTER X . You ' ve heard tell of the Widow Malone , Ochoue !

So lovely the WidoAv Malone , Ochoue ! Sure she " milted " the hearts Of the swanes in those parts , So lovely the Widow Malone , Ochone ! So lovely the Widow Malone . C . LBVEK .

HOW remarkable , and yet IIOAV very queer , often are the vagaries of Love , and the " tricks of trade . " The philosopher , the man of the Avorld , is often amused , often even depressed , Avhen he notes IIOAV foolish and how perverse , and often how very questionable , are the " regime " of the one ancl the outcome of the other . No one can have travelled through tho world Avithout finding out IIOAV very dirty is the higliAvay of life , IIOAV many dirty people throng it , and IIOAV difficult often here is it for tho best

iutentioned , the most honest heart , to " hold up its head " or " its own . " ¦ We left our friends at Rome in a nice little mess , Avhich the god of Love , over bent on mischief , had created in that sympathetic society . The Baron , von Puchner-Priessler was the Baron von Puchner-Priessler , ( Avhich is saying a good deal ) , and he Avas not in the habit of letting the grass groAV under his feet , or of not seeking to "improve the occasion . " Accordingly ho recommenced his old habit of intimacy , his old visits , and his old platitudes , —for the good man AVUS a bit of a bore , —with the charming and dangerous AVICIOAV . He had a sort of idea , Avhich some men I have met with in life

seem to entertain , that theh- mere attention is to suffice for a Avoman , ancl that all the male Avorld is also to understand that by such distinguished preference " destiny " has marked the fair " Odalisque " for their " OAVII , " Accordingly he soon manifested his admiration for Madame Allegri , ancl his disapproval of Don Balthazar , but , as the fates Avould have it , as I before remarked , ere he had arrived on the ' festive scene , " as Cooper says in " The Pioneers , " Madame Allegri bad entered into some " embarrassing

and binding engagements " with Don Balthazar . We all remember that inimitable scene Avhere Elizabeth rejects Mr . Le Quoi , having previously had a private intervieAv Avith Oliver , ancl therefore the Baron ' s " empressements " Avere as little noted by the one as his displeasure heeded by the other . But this little episode created great amusement in the merry party at Rome , though the pretensions of the UOAV " Claimant" were someAvhat depressing and disagreeable to all . They served to throAv a sense of constraint amid a friendl y circle , and even a passing " nuance " of annoyance over pleasant features and sunny smiles .

Compton , Avho took quite a different Ariew and lino , Avas in fact far more' dangerous to Bechner than even the great Puchner-Priessler himself could possibly be to Don balthazar . For Compton Avas one of those gay and insouciant spirits' AVIIO ahvays make bife sunny and gracious to all around ; If it Avere true that he honestly admired his enchantress ; if he thought her , as many a poor felloAv has thought of others , truly ' the girl after his OAVU mind " if be deemed that aE that Avas adorableancl loveable in

; , woman was to be found in that ever-pleasant and fascinating " party , " he did not intend to be a broken-hearted , nor did ho profess to be a despairing lover . Like a sensible youth as ho Avas , he took things calmly on the Avhole , ancl though he hoped to wm in the race , he had too much of English pluck about him , if he Avas beaten , to be sulk y or morbid .