on every side; from which fountain a slim, graceful figure had risen, as far as the waist, like a modern Arethusa.  The gleam of a shapely neck, of a pearl necklace and diamond cross, of diamond earrings, of an enormous gold brooch, of golden gyves an inch broad on each wrist, as the rose-tinted rays fell on those natural and artificial charms, produced a dazzling effect in the shady corner.  On plainer persons, this display might have seemed, in Maltboy’s eyes, a glaring instance of bad taste.  But, looking at that small, oval face, those large, flashing black eyes, complexion of red and white, so beautifully blended that it hardly seemed a work of nature, pouting lips, even, white teeth, and heavily braided hair, Maltboy thought that no decorations could be-too gaudy for a creature of such radiant loveliness.

At the same instant (as their feet passed the parlor threshold) that Maltboy made these comprehensive observations, the quick eyes of Fayette Overtop were scanning the lady that basked in the subdued light of the other window.  She rose from a smaller fountain of silk to a less height than her companion.  She was fat to such a degree, that the bodice of her dress seemed ready to burst with the excessive pressure beneath, immediately suggesting to every beholder the obvious humanity of enlarging it, by taking only a small portion from the superfluous silk below.  She was quite pretty, and very healthy, and had a smile lurking on her lips, and in the corners of her small blue eyes, and in the dimples of her round, red cheeks, and in the curved crease which was beginning to show under her apple of a chin.  She wore plain colors, and exhibited no ornaments save a large brooch with braided hair in it.  The lean Overtop immediately felt a tender inclination toward this fat young lady.

Mr. Quigg paid the compliments of the season in his neat, settled style, to Miss Whedell—­the tall young lady—­who received them with marked coldness, and then begged leave to introduce Messrs. Overtop and Maltboy, to whom she smiled graciously, rising slightly from her chair, and sinking back again, without disturbing the symmetrical flow of the silken fountain.  With a wave of her jewelled right hand she performed the ceremony of introduction between the three callers and Mrs. Frump—­the fat young lady—­who also carefully raised herself about two inches from her chair, and lowered herself again, without disarranging a ripple.

In compliance with an invitation from Miss Whedell, the three callers sat down.  Mr. Maltboy gravitated by a natural instinct to the side of his charmer.  Mr. Overtop was drawn by an irresistible impulse into the vicinity of Mrs. Frump, having detected in her general appearance certain indications of what he called “a sensible woman.”  Mr. Quigg, feeling that he was one too many, took a “seat equally removed from the two ladies, and commenced playing soft tunes on his hat, and looking vacantly about the room.