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"You can go," said the judge; "but likely the climate won't suit you here."

Antonio rose defiant. Then Kate spoke low and clear, (Clasping her babe, and rising,) prisoner, sir ?"

"Are you done with the

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As a marble statue might ask it. His honor bowed to her,— "Heaven knows I'm sorry I am, child." Because," she replied, "I'm not."

A flash from her eyes and pistol,—the Mexican devil was shot.

The smoke made a little halo round the laughing baby's

head.

Then I knew the terrible promise she whispered her husband dead.

Gueldo staggered, falling, his swart face scared and grim,-Dead, gentlemen of the jury! Decision reversed for him! "And justice!" we heard her murmur, though she wasn't the talking kind,

And she hadn't the least allusion to that female pictured blind.

Trembling she turned upon us the eyes of a wounded doe; "Amen!" from the weeping neighbors; "God help you!" the judge said; " go!"

HULDY'S PUMPKIN PIES.—ALFRED BALCH. [ADAPTED FOR PUBLIC READING.]

As Huldy Brown stood at her kitchen table, her white arms bare to the elbow, and her hands, which were somewhat red, employed just then in deftly moulding a scalloped piece of dough-edging on the rim of one of her celebrated pumpkin pies, she looked about as unhappy a girl as you could easily find.

In the old days, the ability to make such pies as Huldy made was quite sufficient to give any girl distinction among her fellows, and to go a long way towards giving her popularity; but Huldy had other and better claims to the position she undoubtedly held in the country village that of one of the best loved girls there. She was pretty, affectionate and very kind to all; she would take any amount of trouble for those she

loved, and her kindness was never appealed to in vain. In short Huldy Brown was one of those dear, good girls of whom our country has, and has had, fortunately, not a few. Nor had Huldy been left without attention on the part of the young fellows of the place and one of them, a carpenter by the name of Sam Steevens, had been looked upon by her, if not with favor, at least not with the reverse. Things had been going on swimmingly enough, until the Wednesday before, when Huldy had gone to a quilting party with Jim Furness, a young farmer in the neighborhood, of whom Sam was mortally jealous. It was Sam's own fault partially, for he had not asked her, although she had waited to the last to give him a chance of doing so; and yet not wholly his fault, for he did not know he could go himself until an hour before the time to leave, when he hurriedly dressed himself and called at Huldy's house only to find that she had gone. Very much irritated, although most unreasonably so, Sam had at first resolved not to go at all, and then thinking worse of it instead of better, had asked Miss Mehitable Smith, who was glad enough to accept.

At the party he had been very devoted to his companion, and poor Huldy had got angry. Thinking to herself that two could play at that game, she had laughed and joked with Jim Furness until Sam was completely out-generaled and was perfectly unable to conceal his chagrin and anger.

Somewhat scared at her own success Huldy had, later in the evening, made overtures for a reconciliation, but Sam had rejected them angrily, and she, conscious that he was quite as much to blame as herself, had tried no Be it observed, that a word of explanation would have cleared up everything. Huldy did not know of the uncertainty about Sam's being able to go, and supposed he had chosen Mehitable in preference to herself. Nor did Sam know that Huldy had put Jim Furness

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off twice, waiting for his invitation, and had only accepted when she had given him up. Lacking the explanation, the two went home thoroughly unhappy, Sam leaving first and taking the unfortunate Mehitable with him, while Huldy made herself anything but agreeable to Jim. Since that evening Sam had not been near her. What made this worse was that the Sunday evening after the quilting had passed without his coming, and that, too, when Huldy had been morally certain that he would call as usual and make it all up. It was now Tuesday, and she was feeling very sad indeed.

Having finished her pies, four of them standing there in a row looking good enough to eat before they were cooked, Huldy put them into the oven, and, taking her sewing, sat down. As she worked she thought of Sam, and bitterly blamed herself for what she had done. She had barely arrived at this conclusion and had only just made up her mind that she ought to make the first overtures towards a reconciliation, when she heard a somewhat hesitating step outside on the little porch; and then, after a moment's pause, a knock. Now, I do not know why, because, a moment after, Huldy declared that she had no idea at all who her visitor was, but it is certain that her heart beat faster. She called out: "Come in," and the door opened. There, awkwardly enough, stood Sam, looking decidedly sheepish, and wiping his feet with great zeal. Huldy gave but one glance at him, and her eyes grew brighter. Curiously enough, too, she instantly abandoned her idea of making the first advances, and rather thought Sam was going to have a somewhat uneasy time of it.

"Oh!" said Sam, "haowdye!" "Howdye, Sam."

"Deacon t' hum?" said Sam.

"He's just stepped down t' Mrs. Baillie's. Th' squire's sick," said Huldy, innocently.

"Du tell!" said Sam. "What ails him?"

"Influenzy, I've heard. But come in, why don't you, and rest a spell."

"I sorter called t' see your pa, but-"

"Oh! Well, he'll be in t'morrow. P'raps you'd better come back," and Huldy turned indifferently away. Decidedly the idea of reconciliation was as though it had never been.

Sam found that there was but one thing to do, and that was to knuckle down at once. He cleared his throat uneasily, looked around, wiped his forehead with his red bandanna, and then said:

"Ef you'll-er--that air, ef you don't mind, I guess I'll sorter wait naoew."

"Just as you please," said Huldy, coolly; "you might as well come in and sit."

Sam came in, and taking a chair, sat down, placing his hat upon the floor. He then folded his hands upon his lap, and having done so, became suddenly conscious of the size of his feet; they seemed unusually large, he thought. With some difficulty he contrived to partially hide them under his chair, and having done so, felt, for the moment, better. In the meantime, Huldy went bustling about the kitchen, glancing furtively at him now and then. Sain sat there, cleared his throat, and then missed his hat dreadfully; his hands had su idenly grown large and looked, oh, so red! He would have given worlds to have picked the hat up and covered them, but he did not dare. He was very hot; the perspiration was beginning to stand out on his face, and he wanted to wipe it. Unfortunate one! His handkerchief was in his hat. He coughed, and passed his hand over his mouth, hastily replacing it in his lap, though, as he caught Huldy's eye upon him. He wished he had not come, and would have left could he have thought of an excuse, when Huldy said:

"You seemed t' enjoy yourself th' other night at th' quiltin', Sam."

Sam started.

"Er-yes-'twas consider'ble pleasant like," he said, getting red and lifting his shoulders as though it was raining about his ears.

"I took notice," went on the merciless Huldy, demurely biting off a thread and looking at him sideways, "as how you seemed t' think consider'ble o' Mehitable. She's a nice girl, Sam, and your mother likes her." Sam thought he saw his opportunity.

"Wa'al, I took notice as Jim Furness wasn't havin' a bad time neither."

Huldy did not even blush.

"Yes, indeed, Jim is so pleasant most every one likes him, and naterally he has a nice time."

Sam concluded he had not made much that time, and gazed uneasily at the floor, trying to think of something to say which would combine an expression of deep and devoted love for Huldy and supreme contempt for the whole Furness family. He had, in fact, composed such a speech the Sunday before, and had rehearsed it many times since, but somehow it did not seem to have the point now that it possessed at first. While he was trying to improve it Huldy went on innocently:

"You seemed t' leave mighty sudden. Was Mehitable curi's t' go home?"

"Wa'al," said the miserable Sam, "she an' me 'greed as 'twas stupid."

"You don't say! I'm surprised at you. I be, indeed," said that wicked Huldy.

Sam's beseeching glance would have moved a stone idol to pity, but it had no effect on her.

"You ought t' hev stayed. We had a most pleasant time, and the drive hum by moonlight was splendid," she went on.

"I must say I think that ar Jim Furness hez th' poorest critters aout," said Sam, witheringly. "I sh'u'd be 'shamed for t' take a nice girl aout with wuck hosses." No doubt," said Huldy.

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