graceful person finely. It was evident that her energetic nature would
permit no statuesque repose while Dennis worked, but that she had come
prepared for active measures.

She had inherited a good constitution, which, under her father's
direction, had been strengthened and confirmed by due regard to hygienic
rules. Therefore she had reached the stage of early womanhood abounding
in vitality and capable of great endurance. Active, graceful motion
was as natural to her as it is for a swallow to be on the wing. The
moment she dropped her book, palette, or pencil, she was on her feet,
her healthful nature seeming like a mountain brook, that, checked for
a time in its flow, soon overleaps its bounds and speeds on more swiftly
than ever. But the strange part of this superabundant activity was,
that she never seemed to do anything in an abrupt way, as from mere
impulse. Every act glided into another smoothly and gracefully. Her
lithe, willowy figure, neither slight nor stout, was peculiarly adapted
to her style of movement. She delighted in the game of billiards, for
the quick movements and varied attitudes permitted, and the precision
required, were all suited to her taste; and she had gained such
marvellous skill that even her father, with his practiced hand, was
scarcely her match.

As she tripped lightly up the long winding stairs to the show-room
over the front door where their labors were to begin, she appeared to
Dennis the very embodiment of grace and beauty. And yet she seemed so
cold and self-centred, so devoid of warm human interest in the great
world of love, joy, and suffering, that she repelled while she
fascinated.

"If the blood should come into the cheeks of one of her father's