Beatrice.

BEATRICE .

BY THE AUTHOR OF THE " OLD , OLD STORY , " "ADVENTURES OF DON PASQUALE , " ETC . CHAPTER VI . TUTRMILLER had for some time been forming a grand resolution AA'ithin his OAvn

. J- ' - * - mind , and haA'ing taken a feAV extra pinches of snuff , determined resolutely to put it into execution . He accordingly got into the " night express , " and telling his daughter that most important business AA'ith his lawyer required his presence in London , started for the great metropolis , with aims and ideas peculiar and pressing . HOAV many men often find it needfid to go to London to see their lawyer , leaving their domestic circle AA'ith bustling complacency , Avhose journey , if one folloAvedand Avhose

, real errand , if one kneAV , mig ht Avell cause us to smile , if sadly , at the Avealoiess and gullibility of human nature ! HOAV Avonderful it seems sometimes to find one ' s self amid the streets and noise of London , especially Avhen one has left some peaceful little A'illage home amid the grand shires , or grander hills , and the " country side !"

There all Avas gentle didness , and calm repose ; here all is bustle and uproar . There Avas an old nobleman in clays gone by Avho liked to talk of the " blessed lights of London ; " and no doubt much may he said for the attractiveness of London to the gregarious and the citizen of the ivorld . " The sii'eet shady side of Pall Mall" is still sweet to many of both sexes , and there is no place to Avhich you get more accustomed than London , AA'ith all its peculiar AA'ays , queer people , and sensational living .

London , however , to many is only a place of mournful memories . To them its noisiest thoroughfares are empty streets , peopled only by the sad AATHI ghosts of the past , and Avhether it he Pah Mall or St . 3 ' ames' Street , Piccadilly or Rotten Row , Charing Cross or Whitehall , aristocratic Grosvenor or rotourier Golden S quare , the present fades away , eA'en amid its croAvds and colours , and " Avar paint" and " Avar cries" and leaves for themafter a long flow of yearsthe scenesthe voices

, , , , , the faces , the fantastic kaleidoscope of the past ! Mr . Miller put up at- a comfortable hotel , kept by a countryman , famous for " cock-a-leekie" and " Avhisky toddy ; " and , after clue ablution and a real Scotch breakfast ( oh ! my digestion ) , started off to see his lawyer .

Social life in London has charms for many , but is , I confess , on the Avhole disappointing and dispiriting . We hear UOAV of " American Colonies " and " habitual Aisitors " filling our grand hotels , and UOAV and gorgeous " hospitia , " hut I think in this respect , not only haA'e Ave a good deal to learn from Paris , for instance , and many another great continental centre , but hotel life at the very best is the least comfortable of existences ! Better far a cottage at Putney , or a gite at Eastbourne ! Ton knoAV

beforehand ei'ery item of furniture , heavy and sad ; you can " discount" ei'ery detail of the menu , dyspeptic and commonplace ; and you knoAV that all the time you are payin ° - hi ghly for what you could get much better for yourself . Still , as travellers must both be lodged and fed AA'ith good entertainment for " man and beast , " probably Mr . Miller did as well as he could do . The firm AA'hich transacted usually Mr . Miller ' s most important business Avas one of

the most respectable in the metropolis ( all Scotchmen , let me observe ) , and Avhenthe senior partner had listened gravely and serenely to his respected and Avealthy client ( though a smile passed over his face once or tAvice ) , he said to him , though Avith suave deference of manner , " This , Mr . Miller , is business hardly of our kind ; but I will trive you a letter to a friend of mine , Avho is not quite so particular as Ave are , the great Mr . Docket ( for he is really great in his Avay ) , of Tipton Square . " Having Avritten the note , and marked it " very private , "he shook hands Avith Mr . Miller and bowed him out :