He had failed in overtaking Ada, and anxious to know of her safe return, had determined to call.

The recognition between himself and Mrs.Harcourt was mutual, but for reasons of their own, neither chose to make it apparent, and Ada introduced him to her mother as she would have done any stranger.

St.
Leon possessed in an unusual degree the art of making himself agreeable, and in the animated conversation which ensued Mrs.Harcourt forgot that she was poor--forgot her aching eyes; while Ada forgot everything save that St, Leon was present, and that she was again listening to his voice, which charmed her now even more than in the olden time.
During the evening St.Leon managed in various ways to draw Ada out on all the prominent topics of the day, and he felt pleased to find that amid all her poverty she did not neglect the cultivation of her mind.
A part of each day was devoted to study, which Mrs.Harcourt, who was a fine scholar, superintended.
It was fast merging toward the hour when phantoms walk abroad ere St.
Leon remembered that he must go.

As he was leaving he said to Ada, "I have a niece, Jenny, about your age, whom I think you would like very much." Oh, how Ada longed to ask for her old playmate, but a look from her mother kept her silent, and in a moment St.Leon was gone..