relations into which she was entering. She proved that she was not a
child by her quick, blushing consciousness of the presence of two young
men, who were as yet utter strangers; and they, in turn, involuntarily
gave to the lender, brown-haired girl quite a different welcome from the
one they had expected to bestow upon a child. Old Mr. Clifford did not
permit her embarrassment to last a moment, but, stepping hastily forward,
and encircling her with his arm, he led her to his wife, who brought
tears into the eyes of the motherless girl by the gentle warmth of her
greeting. She monopolized her ward so long that impatient Burtis began to
expostulate, and ask when his turn was coming. The young girl turned a
shy, blushing face toward him, and her cheeks, mantling under the full
rays of the lamp, rendered the exquisite purity of her complexion all the
more apparent. He also began to feel that he was flushing absurdly, but
he carried it off with his usual audacity.

"I am much embarrassed and perplexed," he said. "I was led to expect a
little sister that I could romp with, and pick up and kiss; but here is a
young lady that almost paralyzes me with awe."

"I'd like to see you paralyzed from any such cause just once," Leonard
remarked, laughingly. "Go kiss your sister, like a little man."

The young fellow seemed to relish the ceremony exceedingly, and responsive
mirthfulness gleamed for a moment in Amy's eyes. Then he dragged Webb
forward, saying, "Let me introduce to you the grave and learned member of
the family, to whom we all speak with bated breath. You must not expect him
to get acquainted with you in any ordinary way. He will investigate you,
and never rest until he has discovered all the hidden laws of your being.
Now, Webb, I will support you while Amy kisses you, and then you may sit
down and analyze your sensations, and perhaps cipher out a method by which