"The furniture was stained a light buff, and the upholstering was a delicate cretonne livened by exquisite tracings of wisteria.

"The carpet was light blue, surrounded by a border of deeper blue, lightly emphasized by suggestions of trailing arbutus.

"Despite all this," continued the lady sadly as she paused to enjoy an intentness of interest on the part of the bewildered Dennis, so profound that the dickey backs had been permitted to fall unregarded to the ground, and their printed extravagances, by contrast with this unusual recital, relegated to the most prosaic of occurrences, "despite all these precautions, the most carefully guarded recesses are not entirely secure.

"For one day an elaborately protected package arrived during my absence, and my husband opened it.

"At once a pungent, overpowering sweetness filled the air, and the very surfeit of its fragrance threw my husband into a convulsion of delight which ended in a stupor so replete that we were able only to restore the poor man to consciousness by hypodermics of--what was to him a most violent stimulant--Cambric Tea."

Dennis looked his astonishment at these accumulating refinements, and in the pause that followed the narration of this last episode he inquired, with the appreciative hesitation of one who is reluctant to advance lest he destroy the dew-gemmed tracery of a fragile spider's web.

"An' what kind of flowers did all this?"

"Cape Jessamine," replied the lady; "and we were never able to discover who sent them.

"His physicians claimed that his disorder was paralleled by similar disturbances instanced in pathological records, but that the contributing causes were different and that my husband's particular debility was not induced by his devotion to flowers but aggravated by it.

"To further complicate matters, the physician assured me that to deprive the invalid of his floral diversions would be to remove his remaining impulse to continued existence.

"He went on to say that he had reached the limit of his skill, and that nothing further was to be done than to surround the sufferer with placid considerations and neutral odors, and intimated that he disliked to contemplate the possible result of a second contact with Cape Jessamine.

"In a short time it became evident that I possessed merely the essence of a husband, and one day, as he wafted--that's the word, for his step seemed to be almost devoid of specific gravity--so I repeat, one day, as he wafted to the room in which he usually experimented with his floral attenuations, I happened to be engaged in the dwelling adjoining the conservatory and into which it opened.

"Presently, my duties concluded, I proceeded in the direction taken by my husband.

"As I advanced I grew momently conscious of a ravishing fragrance which seemed to pervade and invite the consciousness to all varieties of agreeable surrender.

"Ah!--in a moment I recognized this pungent delight: Cape Jessamine!

"Aware of the consequences to him should he inhale anything so transporting, I hastened forward.

"The fragrance grew stronger as I hurried on. It seemed to envelop every delicate, fainting scent in the conservatory, and as I placed my hand upon the door-latch leading to the section where I was positive my husband would be found, I knew that I had traced the occasion to its source.

"In another second I had opened the door, and there, a few feet away, lay my unfortunate husband.

"I hurried to his side.

"His countenance, which exhibited that singular placidity which sometimes comes with death, was as serene as a lily, and gave no evidence of the convulsion that must have ensued.

"He was dead.

"All about him, distributed with devilish malignity and criminal intent, were various clusters of the flowers that had transported him, literally."

"My God!" exclaimed Dennis. "What a situation!"

"Wasn't it?" exclaimed the widow. "It almost equals the story on the dickeys."

"Equals!" exclaimed Dennis with profound conviction. "I don't know that I care to read the balance of the story after this. Do you know the guilty party?"

"I think so," answered the widow; "but you can judge for yourself as I proceed.

"Now follow me closely."

There was no need of this advice, for Dennis would not have missed a word for the world, and gazed upon the sweet-faced narrator with a sort of superstitious admiration as she continued:

"Since his death the patronage is larger than ever.

"I now find myself confronted with what is equivalent to an embarrassment of riches on the one hand, and a famine of intelligent help on the other."

At this statement Dennis attempted not to appear too deeply interested.

"I employ a manager, the one we have always had, who desires to become a partner in the business; but his proposition is handicapped by the character of the consideration he is willing to offer for such an interest.

"In other words, he considers that a proposal of marriage is an equivalent for any financial objection I may suggest."

Despite his efforts, Dennis looked troubled.

The lady smiled and continued:

"I received this proposition two months since. Its suddenness surprised a plan which I have been perfecting for a long time.

"In order to avoid any interruption to my purposes, I permitted the manager to believe that I was impressed with his offer, but desired a little time for consideration."

"An' true, now," asked Dennis with genuine Irish impulse, "an' true, now, were you?"

The lady smiled again. "Wait," she urged, "you shall see.

"I have never trusted this man. He is not only personally obnoxious to me, but I fear that I cannot rely upon his business integrity.

"Little by little, I have gathered together the threads of the business, and I now have a strong legal grip upon the situation, which enables me to decline this alliance with no possible jeopardy to the property.

"But one consideration restrains me: I need a man of enterprise and address to succeed him. And now," she added with a simple, business-like directness, "I have a suggestion to offer:

"You ransack Baxter Street to-morrow for Dickey Series C, and come with it to this address," and she placed a small card in his hand.

"We can reach the end of the story, in which I am exceedingly interested, and when we have set our minds at rest on that point, I will give myself the pleasure of listening to whatever recommendations you may offer as to your fitness to take the place of the retiring management."

"Oh!" exclaimed Dennis as he went through an absurd pantomime of punching himself, "an' is it awake you are, Dennis Muldoon?"

At this the lady, with a cordial smile, indicated that the interview was at an end, and as she turned to depart, said: "You will come, then, to-morrow night?"

And Dennis, hat in hand, with an unmistakable deference of attitude and demeanor, cheerily responded with a query that required no further answer than a rosy acknowledgment:

"Will a duck swim?"

CHAPTER VIII