And so she has; she is as kind a girl as ever lived when she is not in a state of inebriation.'

Inebriation! Good Heavens, Arthur, how shocking!'

"Very shocking, but very true, Helen; they are all drunk at the house I supped at to-night, all, except Rhoda. Not drunk with wine or alcohol; but those are not the only noxious enemies that steal away women's brains. They are drunk with excitement,-long-continued, death-giving excitement, which is as sure a poison to soul and body as the deadliest drug that ever issued from a gin-palace.'

'But did Rhoda come alone there?' asked Mrs. Vaughan, after a sorrowful pause.

'Not alone; but she is neglected and forgotten as thoroughly as though she were the most solitary being that ever mourned her sins in the unpopular raiment of dust and ashes. Lorton was growing tired of

her weeks ago, and now he calls her illness "sulks." Helen, if women did but know in time how slight is their hold on men who don't and can't respect them, what a world of good it might do to the weaker sisters.'

'Yes; I sometimes think that if one were to rise, and reveal to them the experience of a sick-bed and a neglected home, some would perhaps repent.'

'I doubt it, for no woman in the full zenith of beauty and of success can realize the disgust and weariness felt and shown by most men, when the bloom fades, the spirits flag, and the bones begin to show themselves.'

'And with those poor creatures the change begins so early.'

Early, indeed! But here we are in B-k Street at last, and there are still lights in the windows. Let us lose no time -I will follow you.'

Helen, despite her strong-nerved self-possession, ascended the stairs with a beating

heart. She had never been present at a réunion of the kind into which she was about to penetrate; and at the last moment, her courage almost failing her, she stepped back and requested her companion to enter first and herald her approach.

It was a brilliant scene that presented itself to his view, with lights in profusion reflecting the bright gems that sparkled on white necks and arms, and brighter eyes kindling with the varied excitement of the hour. The supper was composed both of the dainty dishes that ladies love, and of the more stimulating viands that, towards the small hours, men turn to with an appetite too sated for the enjoyment of simpler food. The china and the plate, the servants, and the furniture of the apartment, all spoke of Katie's popularity and success.

Brandreth was received with acclama

tions.

'What a bore you went away,' cried Freddy Hemingsley, who was who was one of the

all about Priest Molloy being left for dead and three doctors sent for? How was it, Katie? Tell Arthur about the Priest.'

'Bother the Priest,' cried the irreverent hostess; Arthur, approach;

"Come and partake our humble beer,"

and Katie, whose memory was curiously stored with scraps of poetry and quaint quotations, poured out a glass of 'Bass' (for like a strong-minded young woman as she was, she abjured the nectar of her class) and held it in a lively fashion towards Brandreth.

In a moment,' said Arthur; but be quiet for an instant, there's a good girl. I am not alone, I have brought a lady with me.'

'A lady,' said Katie demurely, while they all laughed. 'Not Lady Q, is it, come to sell her screw? She won't drive it into me. I would not take a present of him, curby hocks, upright pasterns, and has carried a cantering lady of rank five years;-won't do;' and resting her rounded elbows on the table, she

buried her chin in her jewelled hands and looked the picture of resolution.

At that moment Mrs. Vaughan, calm and self-possessed, and with a something in her air which quelled all approach to ribald mirth, entered the room and stood amongst them.

Katie, chameleon-like, and with all the quickness peculiar to her nation, changed her demeanour in an instant.

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'Mrs. Vaughan,' she exclaimed, how good

you to come!' and she was proceeding to heap cordialities on her unexpected guest, when a scream so fearful, that those who heard it never forgot it to their dying day, thrilled through the apartment. Then the women shrieked, and for a moment even strong men stood still, though in their hearts almost all were bent on an immediate escape from a scene which bid fair to be a shocking

one.

By the side of the unhappy Rhoda, from whose lips that scream had issued, and who was now writhing in horrible convulsions,