an evil dream. The horse-cars were packed with the returning
throng, and they had to let a dozen go by before they could push
their way into one that was already crowded. Ann Eliza had never
before felt so tired. Even Miss Mellins's flow of narrative ran
dry, and they sat silent, wedged between a negro woman and a pock-
marked man with a bandaged head, while the car rumbled slowly down
a squalid avenue to their corner. Evelina and Mr. Ramy sat
together in the forward part of the car, and Ann Eliza could catch
only an occasional glimpse of the forget-me-not bonnet and the
clock-maker's shiny coat-collar; but when the little party got out
at their corner the crowd swept them together again, and they
walked back in the effortless silence of tired children to the
Bunner sisters' basement. As Miss Mellins and Mr. Ramy turned to
go their various ways Evelina mustered a last display of smiles;
but Ann Eliza crossed the threshold in silence, feeling the
stillness of the little shop reach out to her like consoling arms.

That night she could not sleep; but as she lay cold and rigid
at her sister's side, she suddenly felt the pressure of Evelina's
arms, and heard her whisper: "Oh, Ann Eliza, warn't it heavenly?"


VI


For four days after their Sunday in the Park the Bunner
sisters had no news of Mr. Ramy. At first neither one betrayed her
disappointment and anxiety to the other; but on the fifth morning
Evelina, always the first to yield to her feelings, said, as she
turned from her untasted tea: "I thought you'd oughter take that