eccentric manhood. His genial smile, his quiet humour, and hearty kindness bespoke the contentment of one who reverences God and loves his kind. Of late years, and by tardy inheritance, his lines had been cast in pleasant places, and he no longer, as in his youth, needed to work hard for money, but the habit of work was so strong upon him that the poor had now as a generous gift the skill which he had once exercised of necessity. He had just come from the Children's Hospital, where every day he gave untiring and unrewarded service, and the engrossing subject of his thoughts as he walked homeward was the fate of a child by whose bedside he had been standing but a few moments ago. He had almost wished she was a boy, this little dancer and rider, who, cutting her antics in the ring, slipped and fell beneath the flying feet of the horses, and in one instant had the left side of her face stamped out of recognition. The travelling circus, which for her contained neither father, mother, nor relative, and at best but impotent if not quite indifferent friends, had journeyed on and left her, totally destitute, upon that desolate coast, the world's mercy. He looked at her to-day as she peacefully slept for the first time in many weeks, and saw, with intense pity, that she concealed, partly by the pillow and partly by one shading hand, the eruel disfigurement of which she was becoming dimly conscious. The right side of her face, seen as he saw it now, in profile, was perfect, and its beauty by remorseless contrast marked with more bitter emphasis the ruin wrought by the iron hoof.

"So intimate," he reflected, "is the connection between soul and body, that every emotion is painted upon the surface of that crystal mirror, the human countenance. If her external disfiguration is aggravated and heightened by moral deformity, how hideous will the face of this poor waif become!-the head of Medusa upon the graceful body of a child! Her only hope of happiness is in a life whose benign influence will call forth the noblest and purest qualities of her heart. At fourteen, and coming from such surroundings, who can say how far already moral disease may have developed? Yet she sleeps like an infant, and only in the outspread hand

upon her cheek is the woman foreshadowed, and woman's instinctive desire to be beautiful. The ideal in her, aroused and strengthened, would modify if not remould the marred visage, and her better nature predominating, she has at most but the shock of the first moment to dread in meeting those to whom she is unknown. After that, though the soul may have but limited space to set forth its loveliness, its irradiating power will soften and hide, like the glory Moses wore, the distortion, and those who look upon her will see the spiritual above the sensual, and its grace above the scars."

So he reasoned; but generous and far-seeing as he was, it was to the unexcelled executive abilities of his good sister he must trust for the accomplishment of his benevolent wishes for Annette's future, therefore he exclaimed, "First, I must consult Margaret."

Now, by one of those coincidences which may merely happen, or which may be governed by the laws of magnetism, it chanced that the Doctor's excellent relative was at that very instant resolving to ask his advice, for, vigorously planning and busily bustling about the multifarious duties of their home government, which had that very morning suffered unprecedented disarrangement, she mentally ejaculated, as she pushed aside a curtain to peer into the darkness of the fast-falling night: "I'll have John's ideas on the subject. It is just his way to give one a pearl of good sense hidden in the tangled sea-weed of his romantic fancies; and though one must search for it, it is always worth the pains. How I wish he would come!

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So when at last he did come, and had dined and wined-for he lived like a prince in his grand old house--had drawn his arm-chair opposite the cheerful glow of the library fire, and comfortably settled himself to arrange in suitable sequence the thoughts which he had resolved to impart to his companion, looking up, he perceived upon her face that expression which a woman wears when she has an irrepressible desire to communicate something. Catching his glance, she exclaimed, without prelude or comment, "Sarah has gone!"

"Gone?" The Doctor's look was startled, his tone incredulous. He could scarcely have seemed more surprised had

some one proved that a planet had taken an eccentric swing out of its accustomed orbit, and yet Sarah was neither sweetheart, cousin, nor niece; she was simply the cook.

"Yes," resumed his sister, "she has gone, after twenty years of creditable service. Her brother has disappeared, leaving his five motherless little ones wholly unprovided for, and she, faithful creature, flew at once to their rescue. She left this morning shortly after you went out."

The Doctor was a man whose serenity was seldom disturbed, yet there was a tinge of indignant scorn in his tone as he exclaimed: "The coward knave! he runs his wild race, drinks his poor rum, indulges every desire of his ruffianly heart, and when the legitimate duties of life press too heavily upon him he flings the burden off at a woman's feet, and flies. What does Sarah propose to do with it?"

"I can understand," said he, smiling, "that the lower regions, now unqueened, are in a state of anarchy."

"Nonsense, John!" she answered, with impetuous haste. "Do you think anarchy shall ever divide the throne with me while I am able to wield a gridiron or a rolling-pin? I have not forgotten the days when I broiled the steak and dressed the salad myself. No: my troubled thoughts were for these little children. Two are boys, and boys are good stock; with a little guidance they fall easily into their places in life. But the girls, Madge, Belle, and baby Bessie!-can you suggest anything for them?"

How hearty and pleasant was the Doctor's ringing laugh! "My dear Margaret, since Timon of Athens died of too much man, I must regard it as quite possible to die of too much girl. I've had one on my mind for weeks, and resolved to-night to ask your advice concerning her, but before I've a chance you have actually quadrupled my perplexities!" And again he laughed, leaning back in his chair.

"Is it possible? And pray where did you find your girl?"

The Doctor then related the circumstances of the young rider's cruel marring, and dwelt upon the importance her future education would have upon her happiness, while his sister listened with keen sympathy and acquiescence. Here was a dilemma indeed! and they sat pondering before the bright fire, as if the charity of the land had not provided workhouses, homes, and asylums by hundreds. He gazed upon the glowing coal, and its light flashed on his glasses, as if the thoughts of his busy brain were scintillating as he mused; and she sat near him, vigorously knitting-she did everything vigorously-and waited for him to speak. Presently, as if he had found his inspiration in the dancing firelight, he began :

"I sat here alone last night, and through the drawn portière I heard the far-away silvery tinkle of the sweet-voiced circle you had gathered about you, and, neither listening nor caring, their words floated upward as the enchantresses discussed and settled the affairs of the whole earth. Indeed, for them but one subject seemed incapable of settlement, and I smiled as the crystalline ring changed to a tone of dolorous discontent. The music that had fallen upon my charmed ears with its scherzoso movement became allegro agitato, beneath which I discerned the smothered cries of confusion, tumult, and dismay. And this theme-the home government and management of servants -the very one which some adventurer from a distant star, making a tour of the globe, might suppose would awaken all a woman's enthusiasm; but men who are born upon this planet know better. Yet over it they should coo gently like brooding doves, or chirp gayly like nestbuilding swallows, or sing like sirens rocked upon the smooth-gliding waves of the sea. Since Eve spread her fatal feast of apples, domestic economy-by which I mean the entire science of home rule-has ever been a topic upon which our sex is either bound to have opinion, or to strictest silence if it has.”

no

He paused, and Miss Margaret looked up with a smile, as she remembered with what energy she and her friends had discussed over their crewels and lace-work the everlasting problem of the incompetency of hired help. Resuming, he said:

"And yet, since the day when Abra

ham's wife fretted because of her handmaid, down to the departure of our Sarah-centuries which have settled many a vexed question for man-what progress have our gentle sisters made in the art of household government, trained help, and far-reaching discipline? None. Our cook gone, to-night we are tossing on the same troubled sea as the rest of the world, and know not where to find another Sarah."

"But if we relieve her of the children she will return."

"Yes, but will she be the same Sarah? Now why should it be impossible to fill her place with another just as good? So admirably trained are men in the various occupations which fall to their lot that the loss of one man can seldom, if ever, occasion a total disturbance of the harmonious whole. Temporary delay may ensue, but there is no gap in the ranks; no man's place stands vacant for ever, and it is on this principle of succession that the science of government, even among savages, is carried on. An empire, unkinged to-night, sees to-morrow a new king; but Sarah's position is unique in this-it cannot be filled. Cooks have no competitors. Upon how insecure a foundation has our domestic comfort rested for twenty years! You took Sarah when a girl, and with infinite pains and admirable patience taught her her business, and a reckless brother in an hour overthrows the work of years."

The humorous intonation of his voice, the twinkling gleam in his eyes, betrayed the laugh in his heart, but as she calmly listened she did wonder how he was going to wind up his monologue, and how it would affect the children.

"To find land, therefore, in this ocean of difficulty we must have another Columbus, for there never was and never will be a Columba. The wet clay of domestic capability upon which your white-handed sisters have for ages looked with dismay, or with which they have unavailingly daubed their fair fingers, under the magical touch of an artist embodies his heavenliest ideas. If to man instead of to woman it had naturally fallen to rule the house, he would have reduced its government to a science, as he has chemistry, or the training and disciplining of armies and of the trades, and in the kitchen or laundry there

would be a precision and order where now there is a madness without method; for observe that in many things women have not only the harmlessness but the simplicity of doves. A man who wants a blacksmith hires a blacksmith, but he never expects him to do a jeweller's work. But a woman who wants an efficient, light-footed, intelligent assistant-on whom does she call? On the unhappy daughters of Erin! She needs deft fingers for her frail china, and uses those which have been browned by the sun in the field; she wishes a dainty repast, and expects it of one who may or may not know how to boil a potatoe; and, disappointed in the result, sits down to weep, never suspecting what a bundle of inaccuracies her logic is. Estheticism in the kitchen is either a lost art or an undiscovered one, but its restoration or discovery will finally be due to man's genius, for in six thousand years women have failed to compass it."

Rapidly the shining needles clicked, but there was nothing defiant in the sound. Patiently this admirable woman was sifting the sand and shells and tangled weeds for the pearl she was sure to find.

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But you see," he continued, "this is due to the fact that the creative or formative powers of your sex are weakthe receptive powers strong. Had the organisation of armies fallen to women, there would never have been any, not so much because they love war less, as because they signally fail in handling masses. For this reason women are seldom at the head of great factories, even where women are employed, and never, save by compliment, at the head of an army. It has justly been observed that with a woman could never have originated the potent brevity of that word Halt!' for all your commands are issued in the periphrasis of Richter's generaless- All you people, as soon as I have done speaking, I command you all to stand still in your places-stop! I tell you.'"

The ruddy face, cap-crowned, beamed genially upon the orator of the evening. He could not go on for ever; presently he would gather up the ravelled ends of his discourse and disclose the pattern of his design, and she smiled as he continued.

"What we want, but what you have

not given us, is a school where the little waifs who slave in factories, or beg in the streets, or go to ruin in the by-ways, could be trained, and a system which would utilise them for intelligent service in comfortable homes, which they need never leave till they find happier, either here or hereafter."

Ah, here was a gleam as of morning in the darkness of the Doctor's speech! A school and a system--she could approve

of that.

"With these four children suddenly thrust upon us, I think it possible to undertake an experiment that should have been tried when the world was young. We will build a House Beautiful, and place at its head a mother, who in this safe retreat will teach these and other little ones the aesthetics of the kitchen, the fine art from which all others sprung, and with which, for her sex, no other can compare. Let them with their fairy fingers keep their home orderly and beautiful, from the ashes on the hearth to the trash in the garret. Youth, with its impressibility, is essential to the success of the plan, because they must come with no preconceived ideas as to the menial stamp of the work, no false notions to eradicate. Let her teach them," said he, while enthusiasm sparkled in his eyes and flushed his cheeks, "that this particular class of labour is as susceptible of idealisation as is the face of an Italian peasant in which the artist's eye discerns the pensive beauty of a Madonna; that if it has come to have upon it a menial stamp it is because it has fallen into menial hands; that as an occupation the office which demands health, integrity, and intelligence, pays not only from a monetary point of view, but is rewarded with the appreciation, the gratitude, and esteem of those to whom such service is rendered."

And so at last she had her Edelstein, and to her fell the task of finding a setting worthy of it. His enthusiasm had kindled hers, and she forgot the queens, Amazons, and generalesses of whom she was about to remind him in her eagerness to give to his experiment a name and shape. She would consult the SilverVoiced. All were rich, many generous, and before another year's blossoming spring by their united effort such a home and school might be founded as would in time demand the beneficent recognition

of the State; and so they talked by the bright fire while the unconscious children-over whose future the childless ones arose like guardian angels-slumbered, watched by Him who giveth His beloved, not sleep, but while they sleep.

II. THE FULFILMENT.

FOR weeks afterwards Miss Margaret was a busy woman, and after numberless meetings, consultations, and appointing of committees, it became apparent that the Doctor's dream was not to fade like the morning mist. A site for the school once chosen-an ancient mansion whose greatest value lay in its old rose garden, where the happy children might chase each other in the sun-what furnishing, buying, donating, and bringing forth from treasuries things old and new! But in all the accumulating nothing multiplied like the children. As they stood, surveyed with profound satisfaction by the Doctor, he said: "Twenty already, and our quiver will hold but ten more. Now we must advertise for a mother for them."

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Nonsense!" exclaimed his sister, startled by so novel a proposition.

"Not at all-not at all," he replied; "I would not advise you ever to advertise for a father, for not one man in fifty has the true fatherly instinct, or, if he has, it is for his own, and not other people's children. This is where we fail, my dear; but women, thank God, from the time they carry that simulacrum of a child, the first doll, to their latest breath, are divinely gifted with a yearning so truly motherly that this admirable trait more than compensates for their mismanagement of masses."

"All women may be mothers at heart, but all mothers are not capable women," said his practical sister. And after a vigorous campaign of advertising and interviewing, she found a matronly heart and a pair of capable hands to guide her little ones in the person of a rosy-cheeked German, who was at once installed in her new home as "Mother Mein.” ·

When the apple blossoms blushed once more upon the trees in the high-walled garden, Annette and Madge, Belle and baby Bessie, were playing beneath them as if they had never known a sadder home than this, and trained by the careful house-wife to perfection in all