Transcriber's Note: Unexpected and alternative spelling, hyphenation, capitalisation punctuation, possible typographer's errors and omitted words, and incorrectly numbered chapters and page numbers have been retained as they appear in the original publication. PHEMIE FROST'S EXPERIENCES. BY MRS. ANN S. STEPHENS. AUTHOR OF "FASHION AND FAMINE," "REJECTED WIFE," "OLD HOMESTEAD," ETC., ETC., ETC. NEW YORK: _G. W. Carleton & Co., Publishers._ LONDON: S. LOW, SON & CO. M.DCCC.LXXIV. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by G. W. CARLETON & CO., In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington. Maclauchlan, Stereotyper and Printer, 56, 58 and 60 Park Street, New York. To FRANK LESLIE, ESQ., ONE OF THE BEST-TRIED AND MOST VALUED FRIENDS I HAVE, _THIS VOLUME_, THE LIGHT AMUSEMENT OF MY LEISURE HOURS, IS Respectfully Dedicated. ANN S. STEPHENS. ST. CLOUD HOTEL, } NEW YORK, _March_, 1874. } PREFACE. Thistle down, thistle down, cast to the wind So lightly and wildly, you scarcely can find A glimpse of it here, or a gleam of it there, As it trembles, a silvery mist, on the air. Like the wide thorny leaves whence the mother root threw Up its crown of rich purple, bejewelled with dew, These feathery nothings, barbed, sparsely, with seeds, Must struggle for life with the brambles and weeds. CONTENTS. CHAPTER PAGE I.--Leaving Home. 11 II.--Phœmie's First Visit. 25 III.--About Girls. 28 IV.--More About Girls. 33 V.--Poor Children. 39 VI.--He Has Come. 41 VII.--The French Dress-maker. 45 VIII.--The Genuine Madame. 48 IX.--Ready to Land. 51 X.--Down the Bay. 54 XI.--The Grand Duke. 57 XII.--Tickets for the Ball. 60 XIII.--The Grand Duke's Ball. 63 XIV.--The Natural History Philanthropist. 67 XV.--Christmas in New York. 74 XVI.--The Night Before Christmas. 78 XVII.--Early Service. 81 XVIII.--High Church. 84 XIX.--Christmas Morning. 88 XX.--About Lions. 90 XXI.--Dining in the Dark. 95 XXII.--New Year's Day. 99