After All.

AFTER ALL .

BY BRO . HENRY CALVERT APPLEBY , Hon . Librarian of the Hull Literary Club , ancl author of "A Queer Courtship , " " The Fatal Picture ] ' etc . CHAPTER III . Strong limits canuot hold love out . —Borneo and Juliet .

ALL the world seemed different to Arthur Humberton after the evening at the Phanes ' . He had found an entirely new delight in life , unknown to him before . Life appeared to have but one aim , object , ancl attraction ; one bri ght dazzling oasis alone sparkled on its otherwise dreary desert . Existence became a dead and profitless dream , except when he coulcl live in the company of Olivia . She was now the loadstone of his lifehis guiding star . How was

, it the world had never seemed so , dull before , wanting her ? He could not tell , but so it was . Life was not worth living were she not included in its term , ancl yet , only yesterday , he would not have believed it possible that he coulcl have been so digustecl with the world ' s ways . How sudden a transition ! and all for a girl ; but a beautiful , noble , loving girl , one whose object seemed to' be to scatter as much kindness as possible into this unfeeling world , ancl with a

tender , light-hearted gaiety withal . Who coulcl help loving her ? Thus soliloquized Arthur Humberton , and yet he felt that he alone was enjoying the full possession of that love , for had he not confessed his love , and did he not know that it was returned ? True , he had not expressly said as much in words , but bis enigmas were not too deep to be solved ; she could not be deceived by his manner ; no , she loved him , ancl , he needn't say it , he loved her to distraction .

Strange attraction ! Oh , you little blind boy-archer , how powerful are your darts , ancl how unsuspectingly you fling them ! Never did it occur to Arthur Humberton that he might have made a mistake , aud that what seemed outwardly perfect might inwardly be full of imperfection . No , love is above cold calculating reflection . He had seen , and submitted . Coulcl there exist a wrong thought or action in such a model as Miss Phane ? Was there the slightest need for hesitation in laying his soul bare to her ? No ; 'he admitted

his action had been very sudden ancl unpremeditated , yet he felt that it was right ; that what he had done he would do again ancl again ; he couldn ' t act otherwise . It was real , true , unfading love ; he would not admit the possibility of a mistake . Olivia must be his . Oh , the grand scenes of action he would enter ; the dangers and difficulties he would surmount ; the work he would doand the fame he would createto win her ! Alreadhe almost saw

, , y himself successful in his ardour ; nothing coulcl stop him ; all barriers would be broken clown , ancl with the mi ghty force of love to back him , he was confident of success . 0 , love , thou all powerful charm ! where would the world be without thee ? ancl yet what a deluding glitter it casts over the stern realities of life . How often does it not all turn out a deceptive mirage ! It is an inspiriting

magnifying glass , an exaggerated vision . Notwithstanding its necessity as a motive power , it is a distorted " aiming at the sun" in its unpracticalness . But the rose-coloured spectacles gradually lose their novelty , ancl objects on inspection assume their natural shape , and life becomes more practical in time ; ancl who shall say , after all , that these poetical spectacles are not useful ? Who would rudely dash them to the ground at the onset—or , rather , who Q