The Beautiful Wretch; The Pupil of Aurelius; and The Four Macnicols

at ship out there?'

th Singing Sal. Nan was rather tired after her long walk, and was not inclined to show muc

?' said Mary Beresford, still

heard people say sh

the Fly-b

an, with no greater

just called here,' the el

h I had been in; I should like

ogues, and guide-books, and dressing-cases. The world she hoped to plunge into on the following week was, in her imagination, composed of nothing but cathedrals and picture-galleries; and she could have wished that the picture-galleries might contain nothing but the labours of Botticelli and And

h him. Nan was silent. She had not a thought for the ships and sailors out there, or for any pensive young officer bitterly saying to himself that out of sight was out of mind; and she had forgotten for a moment all about Singing Sal and her free-and-easy ways. Nan's mind was at this time filled with Dante, and Florence, and the young Raphael, and t

ified all Mr. Tom's malicious forecasts; the weather was fine, an

oking, non-historical, filled with commonplace people; but in

The Old Masters are all alike. There are plenty of Holy Families and broken-necked ange

o be in dreamland. You could do what you liked with her if only yo

rne. It was an exceedingly hot evening; and after dinner the crowd in this great hotel had been glad to pour out into the spacious verandah, which was formed by a succession of arches all hanging

dith. 'It would be odd if we were to have a real thunderstor

ically. 'In the chanting the boys' voices are good, and the tenor voices are good; b

said the elder sister, 'in the tourist season

the piece. I should like to

finish up in time to let us g

l. I thought there was a great deal too much noise. You lose effect when you pile up the

till, unconscious of the threatening storm, those within the small building went on with their holy office, and there were snatches of the clear singing of boys-so faint that you could scarcely hear; and again the strong, sad, sombre voices of the men. Then the tempest broke, fierce and terrible: the elements seemed mingled together. She lost sight of the chapel in the whirling snow; the heavens rattled overhead; and the wind swept down so that the whole earth trembled. A horror of wrath and darkness has overwhelmed the world; and what of the patient choristers now? No longer are their voices heard amid the appalling fury of the hurricane; the sudden lightning-flash reveals nothing in the blackness; the powers of evil have overcome; and the universe has lost its hope. But now there comes a lull; and suddenly-far away, and faint, and triumphant-rises the song of

ed, silent, with her sisters from the Cathedral to the hotel; and she was reasoning with herself all the time. She was saying to herself that she had had a glimpse, an impression of something divinely beautiful and touching, that at some time or other might influence or even determine her course of life. When that time came she could remember. But not now-not now. She was not going to resolv

lf-imposed task, and was busying herself about the wages of the coastguardsmen, and the probable cost of mackerel, and the chances of Sal's having to face a westerly squall of wind and rain when she was breasting the steep hill rising from Newhaven. Was Sal singing that nigh

there was a migration from the dining-saloon to the verandah outsi

hunderstorm after the imitation one,' Mi

er; likewise some pattering of

s fine though,' sai

d a crashing peal of thunder. The rain began to pour; and some passers by took shelter under the densely-foliaged trees fro

t when this orange glow fell on a gentleman whom she thought she recognised as Lieutenant Fra

thout any great interest

g by that fa

also peered thro

emember, he said he was going abroad. But what a curiou

eak to him?' said Nan.

brought him her

vents,' said Mary Beres

can create se

ting her intellectual heroes against the attacks of a flippant criticism. 'You ought to know that at

aid Mary Beresford. 'But aren't you g

red with a lot of girls,' said

Lieutenant-who was clad in a travelling-suit of gray, by-the-way, and looked remarkably like the other young Englishmen loiter

the bow; and she liked to practise most in moonlight. Then they left Zurich one afternoon, and made their way southward into the mountainous region adjacent to the sombre Wallensee.

ground formed by a vast semicircle of hills. She had it all to herself on this lovely morning-the fresh air and sunlight; the plunging river below; the terraced gardens on the opposite bank; over that again, the tumbled-about collection of gleaming white houses, and green casements, and red roofs, and old towers and belfries; and then, higher still, and enclosing, as it were, the picturesque li

ng across the bridge; and, after a minute's surprise and doubt and astonishment, she convinced herself that the stranger was no other than Frank King. The dis

t and went downstairs; and the first person she saw was Lieutena

cally all his life at sea, know so much about the rustics in Wiltshire? How could he have gone through those poaching adventures, for example? She knew that Kingscourt was in Wil

rd nothing but the rattle of the rain on the top of the carriage, and the tinkle of the horses' bells. By and by the lam

f big square, with the rain pelting down, and the building opposite him apparently closed. But presently a man appeared with a lantern, who infor

e dining-chamber: how could any one look after the new arrivals, or show them their rooms on the other side of the square, or attend to their luggage? Now it was that this young sailor began to show a touch of authority. First of all he got the young ladies to descend, and bundled them into the little reading-room; that was clearing the decks for act

e. And I've left Miss Parsons in the kitchen, tearing her hair over some things that have got wet. And I've got four places at the table d'h?te, which is going on. N