Cousin Ann.

Is it then to be wondered if I , an excitable collegian just settling in life , should , during the party at my good old uncle and aunt ' s , have indulged in sundry pleasant , if ecstatic , visions , in which Ann formed the principal figure , ancl to which she lent the perfect colouring ? It would have been very strange had it been othenvise , and so thought Captain Dering aud Major Carew , both friends of mine and friends of the family , ancl grave admirers of my fair cousin .

I do not dwell on those two excellent friends and rivals of mine , because they were , like myself , destined to be eclipsed and forgotten when the " conquering hero " really appeared ; though , personally , I then had no fear of them , or , in fact , of anyone else . She smiled on many just for fun , I knew that there Avas nothing in it j

J . was the first , the only one Her heart had thought of for a minute . I knew it , for she told me so In phrase ivhich was divinely moulded . She Avrote a charming hand—and oh ! How sweetly all her notes were folded .

To say the truth , that family gathering had brought us nearer ancl closer than we had ever been in our life . We had been always great friends , firm allies , fast mates , as years had gone on , ancl as she had reached nineteen and I twenty-three , it seemed the most natural thing in the world that we should "come together . " But , as usual , there were difficulties in the Avay . There always are . The old folk on both sides disapproved of the marriage of cousins , and thenlike all charming and spoilt young womenmy fair cousin was a

, , little wilful . I shall always think she cared for me as much as I cared for her , but , as a good many other people have done before her , and some will do after , she AA'as sometimes inclined to think that life was meant to be rather grander , more gay ancl exciting than an ordinary profession or humdrum station Avould permit . Like a great many other fair beings , she sighed for

change , for life with its splendours ancl its greatness , its brilliant prospects ancl its gay hours , and , must I not add , its garish tinsel and its withering flowers . Alas , yes ! How many a life has been shipwrecked because that bright g irl would not see that all she pictured to herself so fondly might , after all , be a dream ; because in truth she was unwilling to realizethat when the music

, was hashed , and the garlands faded , and the viands cold , ancl the guests vanished , there was nothing left for her , as in the story of old , but the skeleton with its mocking finger to beckon her to a crumbling keaji of dust and ashes . I think that but for that county ball I might have left the old hall a happy man ; but that unlucky event intervened , and all my hopes , ancl those of Captain Dering and Major CareAVwere doomed to be extinguished for ever .

, We all went over , a large party , and very soon after I saw Ann waltzing away , with a radiant face , with a certain Lieutenant Maulevrier , a younger brother of an old county family , ancl in a cavalry regiment in India , whither he ivas returning shortly . He had dined once before at the hall , ancl had paid great attention to Ann , but as everybody did so , that was a matter of course to us all .

Well—now I can write calmly—after all , I will not deny , that that young " interloper " was as good-looking a young man as can well be . Captain Dering , who was inclined to be stout , said he was a " puppy "; Major Carew , who was sententious , declared he was a " fribble " ; but I will be candid , and I must be just , ancl I am bound to admit that everything was in his favour . He had a little money of his own , he came of a good family , and he was a well-informed , kindl y hearted , frank , pleasant-faced young man .