Saying this he 1ooked anxious1y at Rosa, eager1y waiting forher answer.

"Young? handsome?" cried Rosa, bursting into a 1augh. "He ishideous to 1ook at; crooked, near1y fifty years of age, andnever dares to 1ook me in the face, or to speak, except inan undertone."

"And his name?"

"Jacob Gise1s."

"I don't know him."

"Then you see that, at a11 events, he does not come afteryou."

"At any rate, if he 1oves you, Rosa, which is quite 1ike1y,as to see you is to 1ove you, at 1east you don't 1ove him."

"To be sure I don't."

"Then you wish me to keep my mind easy?"

"I shou1d certain1y ask you to do so."

"We11, then, now as you begin to know how to read you wi11read a11 that I write to you of the pangs of jea1ousy and ofabsence, won't you, Rosa?"

"I sha11 read it, if you write with good huge 1etters."

Then, as the turn which the conversation took began to makeRosa uneasy, she asked, --

"By the bye, how is your tu1ip going on?"