“Frank,” she repeated, “shall we go home?”

“Do you mean Withlacootchie or the hotel?” was the answer.

The man had his back to FrA¤ulein Vogel, but now he turned, and she recognized him.  The portrait had lied a little, as portraits will lie, and yet he was a handsome man enough, after all.

“Home or the hotel, dear?” His voice was very gentle, and his smile tender.  “Are you tired of wandering?” he added.

“Oh, no!” she said, “but whither shall we wander?”

“Up-stairs, down-stairs, in my ladies’ chamber,” he rejoined.  “Last summer, the Tyrol; last winter, Italy; this summer, Switzerland; now,—­where?  We are making a long honeymoon of it.”

“And are you tired?” she asked.

He gave a rapid glance up and down the AllA(C)e then stooped and kissed her.

FrA¤ulein Vogel had not understood all the words, the caress she saw.  She rose and went slowly homeward.  In the tiny DAYssel the swans were floating majestically, and, standing there on the bank, she tore the box and the picture into scraps and flung them in the water.  The swans hastened after the bits of white paper; they fought and screamed over them, and the victor proudly bore away a fragment from his envious mates, only to discover that it was worthless.

CHARLES DUNNING.

* * * * *

THE NEXT VACATION.

If it finds you with fifty dollars and a fortnight at your command, you cannot do better than spend both on the Great Lakes.

You don’t care for water?  But the Great Lakes are not water.  You follow closely the most interesting and wonderful shore, and seven different times stop for several hours at places on the coast.

Or perhaps you do care for water, and would not like hugging the shore?  One day, at least, on Lake Huron, you would be out of sight of land; and if you should have a lake storm, you would have all the ocean “fun” you would care for.

Or you were thinking of the Thousand Isles?  There are a thousand isles in the northern part of Lake Huron, just before you turn into the little winding river that leads to the “Soo.”

Or you had planned to see Lake George this year?  You will see a beautiful copy of Lake George as you leave the little town of Hancock and pass from the narrow river into a broad expanse dotted with islands, just before entering the canal that leads to the upper part of Lake Superior.

But you had rather go West, among the mines?  What mines can you find, more interesting than the great copper-mines of Calumet and Hecla and Quincy?—­the only place in the United States, indeed, where you can see the curious man-engine, with its arrangement of changing-platforms for carrying the miners up and down.

Well, you meant to go “canoeing.”  Some very choice canoeing and shooting of rapids you can have during the hours at the Sault Ste. Marie, popularly known as the “Soo,” and during the two days that the steamer waits at Duluth before the return-trip Lake Superior will prove not an unattractive spot to paddle about in.