"You poor boy." Her voice was rich in tenderness. "Loneliness is dreadful, Joe. I don't want you to feel that way." Surely this was a nymph who had stolen forth to give him sympathy. "I was miserable every moment after you left," he told her pathetically. She turned her face to him, wonderful in its mysterious moonlight beauty. "Joe," she pleaded, "you must not be sad. Knowing me must not bring unhappiness to you." "You must never leave me again, Virginia. When I am away from you I can't be happy." Now the blue eyes were drawing a marvelous power of enchantment from the moonbeams, and the black eyes were reflecting the wonder of it. Under the charm of it, he dropped his cane. With a little cry of tenderness she tried to catch it. Losing her balance she fell towards him. He caught her in his arms, and the only other cloud in all the heavens that night drifted before the moon and the world darkened. Yet, on this old rock, lips touched and love blazed and hearts whispered words of gladness. The cloud passed on and the beams fell upon Serena, who had come forth upon the stoop of the Dale kitchen for a breath of fresh air. She raised her eyes to the great orb hanging high above her. Its light displayed a look of great happiness and contentment upon her black face as she whispered into the night, "Praise be! Ma honey chil' is er comin' home. De ole man done conquah de evil spi'it which to'ment 'im. Dat fool Ike done heard de warnin' dat come lak er cry in de night, an' join de chu'ch. _Nobody home, Mr. Devil._" THE END THE TRIUMPH OF VIRGINIA DALE Another GLAD Book (Trade Mark) By John Francis, Jr. Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated, $1.90 This new novel, marking the advent of a hitherto unknown writer of fiction, offers, along with a delightful romance of youth, a tinge of scintillating humor that stamps itself indelibly on the mind of the reader, and evokes many a sympathetic chuckle. It fairly bubbles over with exuberant cheerfulness, and is sure to inject a good share of its unlimited store of "What's good for the world" into every one who is lucky enough to read it. Furthermore, the peculiar magnetism of the characters is such that the reader cannot believe they are merely book creatures, _and_, we wager they are not. Virginia Dale, the heroine, is a Good Samaritan, Miss Sunshine, and Glad Heart--all of these--and yet the most natural young person imaginable, and as she progresses in her mission of "brightening up the corner" she builds for her own future one of the most beautiful characters fiction has ever claimed. The story is essentially a "character" story, but this does not detract from the plot what it just seems to get in the natural course of things, for, as a venerable reader once aptly remarked: "When story folk act natural, we ain't goin' to forgit 'em." THE PRINCESS NAIDA By Brewer Corcoran Author of "The Road to Le Rêve" etc. Cloth decorative, 12mo, illustrated by H. Weston Taylor, $1.90