A Dangerous Flirtation

hionable circles in Newport for the last fortnight, and now, as th

been duly delivered by messengers to the different members whose names they bore, and the promoters of the affair felt duly satisfi

r the masks of the merry cyclers had been removed, that would be so startling in its sumptuousness that the whole countr

ance of his friend; but even he had failed signally. The officers

r held a more brilliant gathering of ladies fair, with eyes behind silken masks brighter than the diamonds they wore

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wheel near one of the fountains, and watched with keen eyes th

I thought I should have little difficulty in distinguishing one from the other," he muttered; "but to save my li

ymphs, and asked permission in silent pantomime to ride as their escorts around the r

ust claim the remaining wood-nymph before som

t he was bowing

"Ah, pardon my speaking; it was purely a slip of the tongue. I should have made known my request in pantomime. But pray forgive,

her voice which one of the thre

of pearly teeth, "and I accept your escort to ride with[15] me. I-I am so afraid of tumbling off my wheel, t

e confidences. I have been hoping against hope that you are the one whom I longed to see here. Surely the throbbings of my he

the characteristic catching of the breath, and the intens

rred his heart for an instant that it mi

feet of beauteous Ida May! Oh, tell me

ied. "I suppose I ought not to tell you until unmask

nd the rink, where handsome Romeo, with his superb fancy riding, was the cynosure of all eager feminine eyes, midst murmurs of admiration, t

wered. "I must

1

y from side to side, as though its r

event her from falling, and in that instant he crushed

against a marble Flora, he found a rustic bench on which he placed her, taking a seat beside her, dangerously near, his hand closing over the fluttering little white one, his handsome head, with its fair

wise the place, and the scene, and the fair, handsome lover by

e forever, Ida-I your devoted knight, and you my queen, the wor

ist, drawing her toward him; the panting of his breath, which she could feel on her flushed cheek; the mesmeric, st

1

d be always together

affright, trembling under the strange spell t

da, do not refuse me!" he urged. "I love you so that I would die for you. Fate surely intended us for each othe

th from her lips-that she did love him. A sudden light that she could not quite unde

nge it somehow;" and as he uttered the words, he told himse