He showed a falling-off in his appetite at tea-time, which surprised and disturbed his mother, for she had filled the house with fragrant suggestions of good things coming, in honor of Mr.Lindsay, who was to be her guest at tea.

And chiefly the genteel form of doughnut called in the native dialect cymbal (Qu.

Symbol?
B.G.) which graced the board with its plastic forms, suggestive of the most pleasing objects,--the spiral ringlets pendent from the brow of beauty; the magic circlet, which is the pledge of plighted affection,--the indissoluble knot, which typifies the union of hearts, which organs were also largely represented; this exceptional delicacy would at any other time have claimed his special notice.

But his mother remarked that he paid little attention to these, and his, "No, I thank you," when it came to the preserved "damsels," as some call them, carried a pang with it to the maternal bosom.

The most touching evidence of his unhappiness--whether intentional or the result of accident was not evident was a broken heart, which he left upon his plate, the meaning of which was as plain as anything in the language of flowers.