JENNIE MAKES HER TOILETTE AND THE ACQUAINTANCE OF A PORTER.


Miss Jennie Baxter, with several final and dainty touches that put to
rights her hat and dress--a little pull here and a pat there--regarded
herself with some complacency in the large mirror that was set before
her, as indeed she had every right to do, for she was an exceedingly
pretty girl. It is natural that handsome young women should attire
themselves with extra care, and although Jennie would have been
beautiful under any conceivable condition of dress, she nevertheless did
not neglect the arraying of herself becomingly on that account. All that
was remarkable on this occasion consisted in the fact that she took more
than usual pains to make herself presentable, and it must be admitted
that the effect was as attractive as anyone could wish to have it. Her
appearance was enough to send a friend into ecstasies, or drive an enemy
to despair.

Jennie's voluminous hair, without being exactly golden, was--as the
poets might term it--the colour of ripe corn, and was distractingly
fluffy at the temples. Her eyes were liquidly, bewitchingly black, of
melting tenderness, and yet, upon occasion, they would harden into
piercing orbs that could look right through a man, and seem to fathom
his innermost thoughts. A smooth, creamy complexion, with a touch of red
in the cheeks, helped to give this combination of blonde and brunette an
appearance so charmingly striking that it may be easily understood she
was not a girl to be passed by with a single glance. Being so favoured
by nature, Jennie did not neglect the aid of art, and it must be
admitted that most of her income was expended in seeing that her
wardrobe contained the best that Paris could supply; and the best in