tropical children are generally thought to be by us in more northern
latitudes. She was black-haired and black-eyed, but her lips were as
red and her cheeks as rosy as though she had been born and bred in
regions where the snow lies in winter. She was a small, pretty,
beautifully made little creature, somewhat idle as regards the work
of the world, but active and strong enough when dancing or riding
were required from her. Her father was a banker, and was fairly
prosperous in spite of the poverty of his country. His house of
business was at Kingston, and he usually slept there twice a week;
but he always resided at Shandy Hall, and Mrs. Leslie and her
children knew but very little of the miseries of Kingston. For be it
known to all men, that of all towns Kingston, Jamaica, is the most
miserable.

I fear that I shall have set my readers very much against Marian
Leslie;--much more so than I would wish to do. As a rule they will
not know how thoroughly flirting is an institution in the West
Indies--practised by all young ladies, and laid aside by them when
they marry, exactly as their young-lady names and young-lady habits
of various kinds are laid aside. All I would say of Marian Leslie is
this, that she understood the working of the institution more
thoroughly than others did. And I must add also in her favour that
she did not keep her flirting for sly corners, nor did her admirers
keep their distance till mamma was out of the way. It mattered not
to her who was present. Had she been called on to make one at a
synod of the clergy of the island, she would have flirted with the
bishop before all his priests. And there have been bishops in the
colony who would not have gainsayed her!

But Maurice Cumming did not rightly calculate all this; nor indeed