It is well to shift your chair somewhat, so that the clerks of the office may not see your emotion as you read. It would be silly to manifest your exuberance in a dismal, dark office of your instructing attorney. One sighs rather for woods, and brooks, and sunshine, in whose company the hopes of youth stretch into fulfilment. We will look only at a closing passage:-- * * * * * ----"My friend Clarence will, I trust, believe me, when I say that his letter was a surprise to me. To say that it was very grateful, would be what my womanly vanity could not fail to claim. I only wish that I was equal to the flattering portrait which he has drawn. I even half fancy that he is joking me, and can hardly believe that my matronly air should have quite won his youthful heart. At least I shall try not to believe it; and when I welcome him one day, the husband of some fairy who is worthy of his love, we will smile together at the old lady who once played the Circe to his senses. Seriously, my friend Clarence, I know your impulse of heart has carried you away, and that in a year's time, you will smile with me at your old _penchant_ for one so much your senior, and so ill-suited to your years, as your true friend, LAURA." * * * * * ----Magnificent Miss Dalton! Read it again. Stick your knife in the desk:--tut!--you will break the blade! Fold up the letter carefully, and toss it upon your pile of papers. Open Chitty again;--pleasant reading is Chitty! Lean upon your hand--your two hands, so that no one will catch sight of your face. Chitty is very interesting,--how sparkling and imaginative!--what a depth and flow of passion in Chitty! The office is a capital place--so quiet and sunny. Law is a delightful study--so captivating, and such stores of romance! And then those trips to the Hall offer such relief and variety,--especially just now. It would be well not to betray your eagerness to go. You can brush your hat a round or two, and take a peep into the broken bit of looking-glass over the wash-stand. You lengthen your walk, as you sometimes do, by a stroll upon the Battery,--though rarely upon such a blustering November day. You put your hands in your pockets, and look out upon the tossing sea. It is a fine sight--very fine. There are few finer bays in the world than New York Bay,--either to look at, or, for that matter, to sleep in. The ships ride up thickly, dashing about the cold spray delightfully; the little cutters gleam in the November sunshine like white flowers shivering in the wind.