em. He
had looked at Robert and Ellen with a white face, then he turned
again towards the fireworks with a gentle, heroic expression. He
caught up Amabel that she might see the set piece which was just
being put up. "Now you can see, Sissy," he said.

Eva looked away from the fireworks after the retreating pair, then
meaningly at Fanny and Andrew. "That's settled," said she.

Andrew's face quivered a little, and took on something of the same
look which Granville Joy's wore. All love is at the expense of love,
and calls for heroes.

"It'll be a great thing for her," said Fanny, in his ear; "it'll be
a splendid thing for her, you know that, Andrew."

Andrew gazed after the nodding roses on Ellen's hat vanishing
towards the right. Another rocket shot up, and the people cried out,
and watched the shower of stars with breathless enjoyment. Andrew
saw their upturned faces, in which for the while toil and trial were
blotted out by that delight in beauty and innocent pleasure of the
passing moment which is, for human souls, akin to the refreshing
showers for flowers of spring; and to him, since his own vision was
made clear by his happiness, came a mighty realization of it all,
which was beyond it all. Another rocket described a wonderful golden
curve of grace, then a red light lit all the watching people. Andrew
looked for Ellen and Robert, and saw the girl's beautiful face
turning backward over her lover's shoulder. All his life Andrew had
been a reader of the Bible, as had his father and mother before him.
To-day, ever since he had heard of his good fortune, his mind had
dwelt upon certain verses of Ecclesiastes. Now he quoted from them.
"Live joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the
life of thy vanity, which He hath given thee under the sun, all the
days of thy vanity, for that is thy portion in this life and in thy
labor which thou takest under the sun."

Ellen saw her father, and smiled and nodded, then she and her lover
passed out of sight. Another rocket trailed its golden parabola
along the sky, and dropped with stars; there was an ineffably sweet
strain from the orchestra; the illuminated oaks tossed silver and
golden boughs in a gust of fragrant wind. Andrew quoted again from
the old King of Wisdom--"I withheld not my heart from any joy, for
my heart rejoiced in all my labor, and that was my portion of
labor." Then Andrew thought of the hard winter which had passed, as
all hard things must