FROM OUTSIDETHE WINDOW.

It was Christmas eve, and MlasThorne v. as tired.

The week before Christmas is a busyone for most of us, but it is especiallybusy for fashionable young ladies likeMiss Thorne, who belong tomany andvarious charitable organizations andconscientiously try to perform all theduties thus devolving upon them.

There had been the kindergartenchildren, the old people in the home,

the sailors at the Bethel, the Chineseat the mission, the prisoners at thejail, the invalids in the hospital, theWorking Girls' and Newsboys' clubsand the church poor, all to be lookedafter. There had been trees and pres-ents to be attended to and visits to bemade to all quarters of the city, andMiss Thorne had worked "like a tiger,"as she expressed it, through it all.

This afternoon had been passed inthe rooms of the Fruit and FlowerMission making bouquets and packingbaskets to be sent to the hospitals onthe following day, and when the lastscrap of a flower had been utilized andthe last orange tucked away the loadof responsibility which had burdenedMiss Thome's shoulders for the pastfew days had rolled off them. Theyearly "rush" was over, and she couldlook forward to doing such good worksas might be required of her in a leis-urely and comfortable fashion fortwelve months to come.

A perfumed bath and a dinner, eatenfor the first time in a week as a din-ner should be, had done much to re-fresh Miss Thorne both bodily andmentally. She was still tired enough,however, to enjoy a quiet season in herown room in a loose wrapper and asoft-cushioned lounging chair in frontof a cheery grate fire before dressingfor the evening's festivities. Indeedshe declared to herself as she sat there,warm and comfortable and thoroughlycontent, that she would really be farhappier if she could spend the eveningin her cozy room instead of beingdragged out to a ball in which she feltnot the faintest interest. However,go she must, for Mrs. Van Aleyne'sChristmas eve ball was sure to be oneof the "events," if not the "event" ofthe season, and it was almost obliga-tory that all society people

—least

those of the "inner circle"—

should ap-pear there. If only Mark Sheldonwere in town now she would feel verydifferently about the prospect beforeher. Of course she did not care any-thing about Mark now that he hadproved to be of such a suspicious, jeal-ous and domineering disposition. Shehad not been actually engaged to him,anyway. "Perhaps" is not "yes," andshe had just taken his case "under ad-visement," as it were. Therefore hecertainly had no right to be angry andsay disagreeable and untrue thingsjust because she had given youngVan Aleyne three dances before supperat the Pinxleys!

He had accused her of "flirting," ofbeing "fond of admiration," "frivo-lous" and "vain!" She certainly neverwould forgive him for that! and then-then she had told him icily that it wasplain that they "were not meant foreach other," and that it was "betterfor them to part." and he had takenher at her word— stupid! Andthe next thing that she had heardabout him he had gone up to somepoky place in the mountains to spendthe holidays, and she

—well, she wasgoing to Mrs. Van Aleyne's, Christ-mas eve ball, and that afternoon a boxof flowers each blossom so perfect inform and tint as to be worthy of spe-cial admiration even here in flower-embowered California— arrivedi"with Mr. Van Aleyne's compliments."Plainly there was no necessity for herto wear the willow,and to-night a cer-tain pair of accusing eyes would notbe present to note every word andsmile that she chose to bestow uponany other than their owner. Surely

she ought to be very happy over theprospect before her, but just assurely, she was not. Someway she hadnever thought nearly so much of Markduring all his months of devoted at-tendance upon her slightest whim asshe had during the few days that hadpassed since he had renounced his alle-giance.

She had seen—

now that it was per-haps too late—that she had been mis-taken in not listening to him more pa-tiently. Unjust as he had been Itwould have been better to have gently

tried to have convinced him of that factthan to have parted with him inanger.Besides, she was not quite sure, afterthinking the matter over quietly, thatshe had not been a little bit to blamein reality, and she had determined, Ifit were possible to do so with dignity,to convey a hint of this to him at theirnext meeting. Not because she wantedto win him back

—no indeed; simply as

a matter of justice. When one hasbeen even a trifle in the wrong sheshould be willingto acknowledge thefact, and Miss Thorne felt that, as amere matter of self-discipline, sheought to be very strict with herself inthis particular instance. Meanwhile,however, Mark was away and shemust kill time as best she could untilhis return.

A piece of coal falling out of thegrate roused her from her meditations,and she suddenly realized that thetears were very near her eyes. Shealso realized that it would never do tolet them fall, therefore she rose hast-ilyand turned up the gas, humming itgay little French air as she did so.

Her gown lay on the couch besidethe dressing table, still wrapped in itswhite tissue covering. Jane would belate coming in she knew, for her auntwould be even more difficult to pleasethan usual when preparing for sogrand an occasion, therefore she un-pinned the dainty robe, shook out itsshimmering folds, smoothed out itsribbons and laces with caressingtouches of her soft little hands andmade other small preparations for hertoilet- Then, .with her hands lightlyclasped behind her graceful head, shebegan to pace slowly up and down theroom.

The curtains of the French windowat the end had not yet been drawn,and the glow of the fire and the rose-shaded light combined to make apretty picture of her slender figureagainst the darkness of the night. Soclear was the reflection that MissThorne could almost imagine that itwas a real young woman who waswalking up and down on the veranda,and, moved by a whimsical impulse,she nodded and smiled as she, for thesecond time, drew near the glass. Thegirloutside nodded and smiled in re-turn, and then as .Miss Thorne drewnearer still and gazed out at her cu-riously she was conscious of experi-encing an odd little fluttering of* theheart.

The face that looked in at her witheager shining eyes out of the gloomseemed in some strange way to havesuddenly acquired a separate individ-uality, and to be no longer merely ashadow of her own! Itwas still herimage that stood there

—perfect in

every detail, from the quaintly fash-ioned jeweled comb which fastened theknot of rippling brown hair to thepointed toe of the dainty slipper thatwas just visible under the edge of herskirt. Her image as clearly defined asifreflected from a mirror, but that im-age was no longer simply imitative inaction and expression. Ithad becomea separate entity a distinct existence,a young woman per se, although ofsuch extreme airiness of composi-tion that as Miss Thorne bent forwardwith her hands over her eyes andgazed at her, more than half doubtingthe evidence of her own vision, shesaw the veranda railings and the

clambering vines quite as clearly asthough the young woman in questionwere not standing directly betweenthem and herself! The pretty facegazed back at her with evident dis-approval.

"'I should consider it extremely rudeto stare through a window at a per-son like that," said a clear voicewhich had a strangely familiar soundto her hearer's ears, and with amarked emphasis on the personal pro-noun, and Miss Thorne straightenedherself up hastily and blushed.It was not only surprising to find

that this extremely diaphanous youngperson possessed the power of speech,but it was unpleasing to feel that thereproof was a just one.

"We outsiders look through windowsourselves, of course," went on thevoice with less severity of tone. Thatis our business, but we do it deli-cately. We couldn't move, in good so-ciety at all if we went about staringat people and making ourselves disa-greeable. Everybody would draw theircurtains before sunset if we did thatway. By the way," with a suddenchange of subject and manner, "Ihavebeen outside here for a long tin.c, andit looks very pleasant in there. Wouldyou mind my coming in for a Christ-mas eve call?" Miss Thorne glancedat the clock. Jane would not be in forat least twenty minutes yet, andmeanwhile this adventure promised tobe interesting.

"Ishould be pleased to have you doso," she said politely—that is, if youcan. Ithought that you belonged tothe outside entirely or Iwould haveasked you in before.""Ican always come InChristmas eve

iflam invited." The stranger steppedlightly over the sill as Miss Thorneslipped the bolt and swung the sashesback and looked about with a littlesigh of satisfaction. "Iwas alwayssure that it must be charming inhere," she said, "and it is; but stuffy,don't you think? and a trifle crowdedand choked up with things? How-ever, Isuppose you do not notice it—it all depends upon how one is broughtup."Itis rather unusual and slightly as-

tonishing to be called upon to entertain

a visitor whose body is of so ethereala nature that you can look directlythrough her and see the various be-longings of your apartment, whichhappen to be on the other side of her,with perfect distinctness. It is moreunusual and astonishing still whenthat visitor looks at you with yourown eyes, smiles at you with your ownsmile and speaks to you with your ownvoice. Taking all things together,Miss Thorne felt that it was reallynecessary for her to sit down and en-deavor to collect herself a little.

"Won't you be seated also," she saidto her guest, indicating her own pet

chair with a gracious gesture as shetook possession of the beribbonedrocker: but the invitation met withbrisk negation."Iprefer to stand, thank you, Ifyou

do not mind. You see 1have done just

what you have done for so many years

that it is refreshing to do just exactlywhat you* are not doing for a littlewhile

—it gives me a delightful feeling

of independence. Now tell me aboutyourself, please," ceasing from • hertour of Inspection around the roomand coming over to stand with oneshadowy arm resting upon the mantel,while she looked down at her hostess."I've always been curious' about you.Do you like livinginside? And do youlike being solid and hitting againstsolid things all the time?" '\u25a0',:.."Itis our duty to like that state of

life Into which it has pleased Prov-idence to call us," replied Miss Thornea trifle primly, "and Inever 'hitagainst things.' None but extremelyawkward persons do such things. Whyshould you be curious about me? Ishould think that you would know-all about me after watching me solong."

"We only see the outside of you solidpeople," explained the visitor, "andyou can't tell anything by that. Nowwe outsiders are different. We can seeright through each other, you know,and it makes things easy. We nevermake mistakes or deceive each other,because we couldn't if we tried. Weare just as we seem, but you peopleseem so many different ways that it ispuzzling. One can never be quite surehow you really do feel about things.

you know, because you have a body tohide behind."

"It is very convenient sometimes,"said Miss Thorne reflectively, "and Idon't think that Ishould like your wayat all. It would be very embarrassingoften, and lead to unpleasant compli-cations. Do you like it always your-self?"

"It is our duty to like the state oflife." The girl from outside interrupt-

ed herself with a confused little laugh."Ibeg your pardon, but we do get soaccustomed to parroting! It is aw-fullystupid to be obliged to copy someone else all the time, especially whenthey do silly things, and you Insidepeople do tremendously silly thingssometimes, you know. What makes

me envy you the most of anything,though, is because you are so inde-pendent. You don't have to follow anyone else's lead all the time and do fool-ish things just because some one elsedoes!"

Miss Thorne glanced involuntarily atthe fashion magazine that lay on thestand near by and then down at thesqueezed up toes in her dainty slippers,and the color deepened guiltilyin hercheeks. She sought to create a diver-sion. "Don't you find it lonely outthere In the dark?" she asked, "after

!the curtains are down and you can'tIlook in?"

The shadowy head shook decidedly.That is our pleasantest time, fro then

we are off duty and can associate witheach other. We of the 'smart set' haveour paper chases and our animal races,and all the other silly things that youhave. You see we can't get rid of be-ing you, even when you are out of oursight, and sometimes it is very tire-some. Iassure you.",Miss Thorne looked up at the clock."Ido not wish to seem inhospitable,"

she said a .little coldly (this youngwoman was not altogether pleasing,she thought, and her call had alreadyextended over fifteen minutes)^ "butmy maid will be here directly, so ifthere is anything;special that youwould "like to speak about before shecomes you would better.- do so atonce." v**: vT.'-y'-' .\u25a0*

Her visitor took her arm off themantel, and coming around to the frontof the fire settled down comfortablyinto the big chair. Miss Thorne notedwith disapproval, and yet with secretconsciousness of her fidelity to natureas she had seen it, that she glancedinto the mirror as she passed it, andthat as she sat down she drew backher skirts with a surreptitious turn ofher dimpled wrist so that one smallfoot was innocently exposed to view.Having arranged this matter to hersatisfaction she smiled across at herhostess most engagingly.

"Itwas ever so sweet of you to askme in," she said, "but Isuppose that Iought to have told you something first.It wasn't exactly honorable of me totake advantage of your kindness, butIwas just determined to come in for

once, and—you won't mind it so

much for one night, will you?"Miss Thorne sat up very straight,

chilled by a sudden foreboding."Mind what?" she demanded with

unwonted sharpness, and the youngwoman from outside the windowlaughed softly.

"Changing places with me," she an-swered. "You see, there Is only bodyenough for one of us, and since you in-vited me inIhave a right to it untilhalf-past 3 in the morning the 'turn-ing time," you know

—and

—well,

you have to go—

outside!"Miss Thorne gasped. "Itis impossi-

ble!" she declared, "quite impossible!Iam sorry to seem selfish and disap-point you, but Iwas never out in thestreet alone after dark in all my life;and, besides, Ihave an engagement forthis evening. Icouldn't think ofchanging places withyou, really."

The "outsider" laughed again—

a de-murely, mischievous little laugh thistime. "You do not need to think of it,"she said, "for—see?" and with acomprehensive wave of her hand shedirected MissThorne's attention to thefact that a swift and singular changewas taking place in her personality.

From being transparent she had be-come translucent, and was rapidly be-coming opaque!

At the same instant Miss Thornefelt an odd "creepy" sensation passover her, and as her horrified eyes

looked down at herself she became in-dignantly aware that in some myste-rious way she had been robbed of herphysical being, and that her visitorwas Inpossession, not only of her ap-pearance, but also of her substance."Ithink you are very rude, half

sobbed, "and very ungrateful! and youought to be ashamed of yourself!""Iam," said the newly solidified Miss

Thorne earnestly. "Ireally am, Ias-sure you, but that doesn't make anydifference under the circumstances.You'll be obliged to go."

"ButIabsolutely decline to helpcarry, out this absurd arrangement,"persisted the rightful owner of thepretty face that was now regardingher with mischievous triumph, and theyoung woman in possession rose withan air of gentle decision.

"Our rules are never broken," shesaid, "and you really must submit. Icouldn't change back now until theright time ifIwanted to. And now Imust bid you good-evening, for Janeis coming. Be sure to be close at handat half past 3 or you willhave to stayoutside until next Christmas eve.Thanks and good-night."

And before she could at all realizewhat had occurred the deposed daugh-ter of the house of Thorne found herown window bolted behind her and thecurtain drawn, shutting her out com-pletely from the life that had beenhers.

Mr. Van Aleyne was the first to bowbefore Miss Thorne when she made herappearance, unusually late, under thebrilliant lights of the crowded ballroom, and she graciously granted himthe privilege of putting down his namefor two dances and a "may be," dis-tributing the rest impartially amongthe especially favored ones of "herset." Outside the window a pairof unseen eyes watched her everymovement, for was there not apainful possibility that this fair pre-tender might compromise the real MissThorne beyond redemption? Whatmight not a girl who had spent all herexistence on the outside of life be ca-pable of when she found herself. Insideof the charmed circle? The independ-ence for which she had longed was hersfor this one night, and she could makewhat use of Itshe would.

She was flirting abominably— thatwas certain." "Was itpossible, thoughtthe girlwhose place she had taken, thatMiss Thorne, of whom she purported tobe a perfect copy, ever "made eyes" atpeople in that way? Was the real MissThorne always so conscious of herpretty face and her pretty shoul-ders and her pretty hands and herpretty waist and her pretty feet andher pretty gowns, and was this coun-terfeit a true presentment :ofher? Was the real Miss Thorneso full of "nods and becks andwreathed smiles," and did shebestow them so lavishingly upon herlittle court? And was the real MissThorne so rosily triumphant over thesmall victories of a ball room? Ifso,then Mark was surely justified in feel-inghimself aggrieved and taking excep-tions to her conduct. Poor Mark! Itwas no wonder that he had remon-strated, and she had treated him mostunkindly. Ifhe would only give her

an opportunity she would certainly tellhim how sorry she was for it all. But jperhaps he had been so deeply wound-

*ed that he never

—The watching eyes fell suddenly on atall, broad-shouldered young man who I

was making his way determinedly Ithrough the crowd in the direction of 1the false Miss Thorne. Mark had come \back, and was evidently eager to \make friends again! And here shT^**was, on the outside of the window, and ithe happiness of both their lives lay in Jthe hands of that heartless little flirt,Iwho, sailing under false colors as she Iwas, might do or say something that 1would send him away again— time iforever!

She could look in at them no longer.Sick at heart she sought the deepestshadow and waited there in silenceand solitude until the "turning hour"was at hand. Then she stationed her-self by her own window, and presentlya white hand drew aside the curtainand a tired and rather cross little facelooked out at her.

"Oh, you are there, are you?" Thevoice was a trifle ungracious, as thewindow swung open. 'Iam glad of it,forIam just tired out dragging aboutthis clumsy body of yours! Myhead aches and my back achesand ,my feet ache, and thatawkward Mr. Tomkins stepped on mytoes and nearly crushed two of them. Iwoudn't be bothered taking care ofsuch things all the time for anything!Come in, do, and don't let so muchcold air in."

Miss Thorne stepped into the warmthand brightness of the pleasant room,realizing as she did so that she hadnever appreciated how very pleasantit was until she had been shut out i:'it—just as she had never appreciateda certain loving heart until it wk-,perhaps, lost to her for all time. >%"Itold Jane Ishouldn't need her, forIknew you would want to talk," wenton the interloper, tugging at the fas-tenings of her gown, "and it wouldn'tbe fair to leave you to take offall these _Athings when you didn't have the funof™wearing them. Hand me that wrapperthat Iwore in here, please. Iwouldn'ttrouble you, but it is close on the halfhour, and

—"Do tell me about your evening," in-

terrupted Miss Thorne. "You see, Iamresponsible for everything that youdid, and Iam a little anxious. Didanything special happen?"

The other Miss Thorne sat down onan ottoman, and, pullingoff her satinslippers, caressed her liberated feetaffectionately."Iam thankful that Ishall leave all

my aches behind me when Ileavehere!" she said.

"'Anything spe-

cial'? Well, Mr. Van Aleyne asked meto marry him."

"And you—

"Refused him, of course. Do Ilooklike a girl who would jump at her firstoffer? Besides, he asked me in his ownhouse

—shockingly bad form, that!

There, now," glancing at herself ap-provingly, "I'm all ready, and it'stwenty-nine minutes past. Thank youfor lending me your things, but Iwould rather stay on my side of thewindow hereafter."

Again that strange sensation shiv-ered over Miss Thorne, and then shesaw that she was once more in herown form, and that the airy semblanceof herself was bidding her "good-night."

She hurried across the room and laidher hand on the bolt.

"And what did Mark say?" sheasked, forgetting her pride in her anitiety to know what had occurred.

™-—"Mark? Oh, yes; the big fellow. He

only had about two minutes alone --.sthme, but he managed to talk a quantityof nonsense. Said he 'just couldn'tstay away,' and that he had been'cross,' and 'unreasonable,' and allthat."

"And what else?""Well, he said that he had come for

a decided answer. Itmust be 'yes' or_A'no' right then and there, and so—re-ally, you must let me out this instantor Iwon't answer for consequences!"

Miss Thome's trembling fingers drew*the bolt. "Please tell me which yousaid." The words were almost whis-pered, and the "outsider" looked backat her roguishly as she passed outinto the night. »

"Guess, for I'llnever tell!" said she,teasingly. And then, relenting*, "'he'lltell you himself, though, for he iscoming to-day to wish you, as Inowdo, a merry Christmas!"

And then Miss Thorne closed thewindow.

FLORENCE MATHESON.

AVERITABLE "COUSIN PONS"Paris may now lay claim to a veri-

table "Cousin Pons," whose collectionof art treasures, bric-a-brac and curiosof the centuries will hereafter adorn

Iwith a vast number of originalities the!copies and imitations of masterpieces!gathered in the Ecole dcs Beaux Arts.iThis attractive endowment of the in-j stitution Is pronounced by critics andconnoisseurs to be scarcely less valu-able and varied than the fanciful col-lection which was at once the joy and

misery of the existence of the mostminutely eccentric characterization inBalzacian fiction.

The donor, M. Achille Wasset, uponleaving college fifty-six years agotook a clerkship under the Minister ofWar and was advanced rapidly to thepost of bureau manager or chief, inwhich he remained until shortly be-

fore His death. A few months afteran early marriage he lost his wife andever afterward found in his passion-ate search for relics of the past anemollient for his profound grief. Of

his taste for antiquities he made asecond and a deathless bride.

From the outset he pursued hispleasure systematically, scarcely aday of fifty years passing thathe did not devote some part or all ofhis leisure time to searching throughthe musty dens of the Latin quarterfor art products of the dead past. His

fancy, though confined periodically tothe completion of series and the ac-cumulation of works covering- a givencentury or period, took excursionsthrough the entire domain of art, until

the immense and incredibly valuablecollection he bequeathed to the BeauxArts is of evolutionary rather thaneccentric interest.

Wasset's first collection was of theFrench and German engravings of thesixteenth century, which is said to beof the rarest and most complete. His

next series was of the eighteenth cen-tury French stamps, which cost him8000 francs and is now appraised at$111,000. About the same time he be-gan his series of French and Italianmedals, now of inestimable worth.

The collection of rings, jewels andseals, rare and precious, consumed theodd moments of many years. During

the last twenty years of his life he de-voted his energies and rcsoures tocompleting series of heraldic devices,Ivories and religious statuary.

It transpired at the death of thisdisinterested and enthusiatic old manthat he had been animated throughoutby the determination to create andleave as a legacy to the Beaux Arts anart collection that could not fail tostimulate the students of a symposiumuntil then composed almost whollyofreproductions, destitute of the essen-tials of original suggestion.

Of the Wasset antiquities the mostnotable of the first virtue, Greek andRoman, are several beautifulbronzes, a mirror fragment with anengraved frame, two figures of Phryg-ian headdress, the Venus of the an-cient Grcau collection, a grotesquemale figure of the same collection, anold squatty Taurus, a very old pan-ther, a number of ornamental potteriesand terra cottas, engraved stones,metals, Gallic

-Roman and Mero-

vingian bronze statuary, and curiosi-ties of all sorts.

The. middle age is represented in ashow case of the most varied and im-posing aspect, including dozens of ivo-ries and works of the goldsmiths'craft chalices, ciboriums, ostensoires,reliquaries, and sacred chandeliers;heraldic treasures, fierce and sternfigures of Christ on the cross and ofsaints holding the phylactery, and ofrich ornamental designs of the ancientRoman and Byzantium period.

The thirteenth century is representedby a charming statuette of the Virgin,done in wood, her eyes lowered and herhead covered by the skirt of her man-tle.

Then comes a collection of Italianbronzes,

'followed \u25a0by the renaissance

and the dazzling medallion works ofDupre and Warm.

Such is a mere skeleton idea of theincomparable patrimony of the stu-dent at the Beaux Arts, who have. tothank the early bereavement of an ob-scure Frenchman who earned themeans with which he

-might enrich

their art resources in a life long strug-gle with dull figures, filings and ac-counts of the "War Department.

Burgundian Virgin, FifteenthCentury

—Wood.

Carrying the Cross—

Wood.

Gothic Virgin,Thirteenth Cen-tury

—Wood.

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