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his energy and diligence to maintain the ancient reputation of his
firm.

So long as he remained young, the concern struggled on; but now that
he was advanced in years, his wife dead, and his home desolate, it
pained him to think that he might leave the business which had been
his joy and pride, and which he had hoped to make so great and so
enduring, bereft of its vitality and in a feeble and disorganized
condition.

The household expenditure at Sandsgaard had always been considerable,
for his attractive and vivacious wife had been fond of parties,
masquerades, and entertainments, and her tastes had been fully shared
by her husband.

The freer mode of life which came in with the century, as well as his
position as the eldest son of a large mercantile family, had
encouraged somewhat extravagant views of life, and in the town his
ostentation had given rise to not a little derision and offence. Of
this, however, nothing reached his ears.

Owing to his foreign education, and to his frequent journeys abroad,
he brought back a peculiar atmosphere which pervaded his whole life,
his views, and his opinions--which latter were, indeed, very
different from those prevailing in the frugal little town, which at
this period found itself in a state of fermentation, owing on the one
hand to commercial progress, and on the other to a strong religious
movement.

As yet, however, the old-fashioned mode of entertainment prevailed at
Sandsgaard, where the civil and military personages of the grander
sort kept up their ancient traditions at festivals where they ate
well and drank deeply. Freedom and courtesy were so well balanced in
this society, that little restraint was put upon conversation. A
_risque_ word, the stray touch of a too daring hand or foot, or a
whisper behind a fan, which was in truth a furtive kiss, with a
hundred other trifling liberties, were permitted. Frivolity enveloped
the company as with a silken veil, and yet everything moved as
politely and as sedately as a minuet.

In this sort of life Consul Garman carried himself as easily and as
adroitly as a fish in its native element.

When he sat in his office on the mornings of his great dinner
parties, his pen flew over the paper, and on such occasions he
indited his ablest letters.

His thoughts were so clear, and his mind so prompt and unembarrassed,
that everything was arranged and ordered with the utmost precision.

In the same despatch in which he besp