Celia's Moth.

had said good-night and gone away , Celia would betake herself to her chamber , there to piece out the broken images again in dreams , and fancy she heard Eory ' s rich voice singing serenades tinder the thickblossomed creepers , and saw the gleam of

gold in Juanifca ' s black cloud of tresses , till she started suddenly broad awake , with the sun in her eyes , and Peter ' s whistle in her oars , as he went out to fodder the cattle in the early morning . Then she would half smile as she rose and made her

simple but dainty toilet , and , standing before the glass , shook loose over her face the thick waving locks that needed no foreign ornaments to give them the gleam of . gold ; then she would go lightly downstairs , for she must sot the whole household

machinery in motion , she must see that others ate and drank , and she must eat and drink herself ; and , amid her multiplicity of occupations , she had no time to pine or pale , and so the new clay would wear pleasantly enough to a close , like those that had gone before , and should follow after it .

So four years slipped away , and then—Eory came home , suddenly , without a word of warning : he wanted to give them a surprise , he said . And a huge surprise it was ; only , after a little , he had dropped so completely into his old place , that it seemed as if he had never been away . So said Uncle Jacob .

" You ain't a bit changed , not a bit , " went on the old man . "You ' re brown enough—yes , but then you always was coffee-colour you know , Eory , hey ? " " Yes , I know , " answered Eory , returning the old man ' s laugh . "But I am changed for all that , Uncle Jacob . Ask Celia . "

"Well , well , perhaps you be , perhaps you be , " said the old man . "My eyes ain ' t what they were—nor my glasses neither . I shall havo to buy a new pair , I guess . " But the change in his nephew was one which no new pair of lasses—nor

g even of eyes , unless they had been Celia ' s — would have enabled Jacob to see . "S ' pose we sha ' n't keep you long , " continued ho , presently . "You'll be in a hurry to got back again ?"

" ^ ° > Uncle Jacob , " answered Eory ; I ' ve come home for good . I mean to try t ° turn to account here what I ' ve managed to pick up out there . "

" Alia ! didn't I say so ? Going to do just as his father did ! " chuckled the old farmer , oblivious apparently of the fact that neither his father ' s agricultural nor matrimonial ventures had thriven in transplanting . "But you'll have to go backthoughto fetch your bride . When ' s

, , it to be , eh , lad ? when ' s the wedding coming off ?" "The wedding , " repeated Eory , dreamily ; then , with a start and a smile , " Oh , sometime next year , I expect . " "Then it really was to be" thought

, Celia , as she watched Eory ' s unconscious face . How strange that she , she , should have been the one to send him half across the world to find a wife hi this unknown cousin , who otherwise would doubtless have remained unknown to him for ever .

Well , she did it for the best , she told herself , as often before , but this time she could not thus console herself cpiite so readily . And just then Eory ' s e 3 es

turned suddenly full upon her , and she blushed guiltily , and got up and went into the kitchen , remembering all at once that Nancy Walsh was a raw girl , and was probably spoiling whatever she had in hand . Two or three days passed by much as of

old . " Do you expect anybody to-night , Celia ? " asked Eory one evening . " No , not that I know of , " answered Celia , rather in surprise ; " why 1 " " Nothing , only as Dr . Heath was here

last night , and Lewis Saundorland the night before , and Mark Wilson the night before that , I was wondering if you had one for every evening in the week ?" " What nonsense , Eory ! " said Celia , turning away in search of something in

her work-basket . " Is it nonsense ? " said Eory . " I ' m sure I hope so , for then we havo a prospect of a quiet evening . "

A very quiet evening they seemed to have a prospect of , for it was a long time before either of them spoke a word . They sat opposite each other , with the light-stand between , Celia knitting , and Eory lazily watching her quick little fingers fly in and out among the needles . Bothperhaps ,

, thought of just such an evening four years before . " There ' s your moth back again , Celia , " said Eory , suddenly .