fashionable thing, that Trix & Co. would not have recognized it; but it did very well for a beginner, and Polly understood that night wherein the fascination of it lay, for she felt as if she had found a new gift all of a sudden, and was learning how to use it, knowing that it was dangerous, yet finding its chief charm in that very fact.
Tom didn't know what to make of her, at first, though he thought the change uncommonly becoming; and finally decided that Polly had taken his advice, and was "setting her cap for Syd," as he gracefully expressed it. Sydney, being a modest man, thought nothing of the kind, but simply fancied that little Polly was growing up to be a very charming woman. He had known her since her first visit, and had always liked the child; this winter he had been interested in the success of her plans, and had done what he could to help them; but he never thought of falling in love with Polly, till that night. Then he began to feel that he had not fully appreciated his young friend; that she was such a bright and lovable girl, it was a pity she should not always be gay and pretty, and enjoy herself; that she would make a capital wife for somebody, and perhaps it was about time to think of settling, as his sister often said. These thoughts came and went, as he watched the white figure in front, felt the enchantment of the music, and found everybody unusually blithe and beautiful. He had heard the opera many times, but it had never seemed so fine before; perhaps, because he had never happened to have had an ingenuous young face so near him, in which the varying emotions born of the music, and the ro-
