,
and then walked to the window to recover herself. In a few minutes she
turned round, and said pleasantly:

"What will you do with your afternoon, Adriana?"

"I thought of going to see sister Augusta. I have not been near her
for nearly two weeks. Antony spoke of one of the children being
unwell."

"Would you like me to drive you there? I can do so as I go for Mrs.
Daly."

"No, cousin. Augusta would think I was putting on airs, and would
scold me for it. I will take the cars or walk."

"Give my remembrance to her, and ask if she will join our society."

In half-an-hour Adriana was ready for her visit, and Miss Alida
watched her going down the avenue, walking swiftly and erect, with her
head well up, and her neatly-folded umbrella in her hand. The
afternoon was bright and pleasant, warm for the season, and Adriana
was much exhilarated by the walk, when she reached her destination.
It was in that part of Second Avenue which still retains many traces
of its former aristocracy,--a brick house at the corner of a street
leading down to the East River. The whole first floor of the building
was occupied by her brother-in-law's grocery, the dwelling was
immediately above it. An air of definite cleanliness pervaded the
stairway to it, and as soon as she entered the house the prim
spotlessness assailed her like a force; the presence of a wind could
not have been more tangible.

Augusta herself, with her fair, rosy face, her smoothly braided hair,
and her exquisite, neat dress, might have been the genius of domestic
order. Her whole house had the air of having been polished from one
end to the other; and the table-cloth in which Augusta was darning "a
thin place" was whiter than snow, and ironed as if for a palace. She
kissed Adriana with affection, but also with that air of superiority
which her position as an eldest sister gave her. Then they sat down
and talked over their home affairs--of the brothers in Florida, who
were doing so well, of their sister Gertrude, who had bad health, of
Antony, of their father, and of John Van Nostrand's election to the
Assembly. In a little while, the children came in from school--six
rosy, orderly boys and girls, who knew better than to bring in a speck
of dust, or to move a chair one inch out of its proper place.

The eldest girl soon began to lay a table with the utmost neatness and
despatch, and the eldest boy having said a short grace, all sat
quietly down and waited for their po