Alice Joyce, good-naturedly racked her brains to think of something that would set him at his ease, and ultimately put the young head-mistress’s stock question— “Would you like to see our gymnasium?” Colonel Hewson expressed himself as not unwilling. The gymnasium was empty, save of apparatuses, of which, movable and immovable, it had a great number. Alice Joyce had considerable skill in showing these off, and handled weights and bars with a facility which impressed her visitor. Up and down the gymnasium they went, swinging dumb-bells. Suddenly Alice Joyce pulled up short— “As you are so much interested in all this, Colonel Hewson,” she said, “do come and see the girls at it.” [Illustration: Entertaining a dumb beau with dumb-bells] “Can anyone come?” was asked. “No, no; only parents and anyone whom I may happen to invite. I shall be pleased to see you, though you’re not a parent.” Colonel Hewson expressed his deep sense of obligation with a rather blank face, adding, in mild protest, that he regarded himself as a parent. Here was one result of Alice Joyce’s having become a head-mistress. She had come to narrow the meaning of some words. She was startled herself to find that things had come to this pass, and said apologetically— “When I say ‘parent,’ I mean the person in that relationship to girls—my girls. It is stupid of me, because, of course, there _are_” (her voice paused on a higher note) “other parents.” Colonel Hewson’s face remained rather blank, and he put his hand on an iron ring suspended from the roof. Alice Joyce the while had stationed herself beside a trapeze bar. Colonel Hewson in a lady’s gymnasium was not the most valiant man in the world, but he now took heart of grace and proposed marriage to Alice Joyce. The end of the story is perhaps best told in the words of the heroine— “Of course I said ‘No’ to him. Really men are very tiresome. _Fancy a man’s proposing when you’re showing him the gymnasium!_” [Illustration: CRUSHED] (_To be continued._) [Illustration] EMBROIDERY WITH CHENILLE. Chenille was, in days past, a popular material for fancy needlework. It has recently, after a period of disuse, been restored to favour under somewhat different conditions. Modern chenilles are obtainable in many more soft and carefully shaded tints, and though coarse makes are still used, some of the finer qualities are no thicker than a strand of rope silk. [Illustration: FIG. 1.—PENWIPER.] Chenille can be used as a working thread if passed through the eye of a chenille needle, or it can be caught down in the desired curves by couching it in place with finer silk.