don't be a goose. Of course, Mr. Myrtle does not exactly
_approve_ of it. That is, he don't waltz himself, his wife don't waltz,
and his children are not old enough; but he does not object to any
'rational amusement,' and he leaves his congregation to decide what _is_
rational.'

'Well, I shall not waltz, that's certain.'

'Yes you will, too. The girl you are to marry--the girl who has a clear
two hundred thousand in her own right--_she_ waltzes, and _you_ have got
to waltz.'

Hiram's head swam, as if already giddy in the revolving maze; but it was
the thought of the two hundred thousand dollars, nothing else, which
turned his brain. The color in his face went and came; he hesitated.

'I will think of it,' at last he ejaculated.

'Of course you will,' cried Mr. Bennett, 'of course you will, and decide
like a sensible man afterward, not like an idiot; but you must decide
quick, for I must put you in training for the fall campaign.'

'What do you mean?'

'Why, simply this; the girl will not look at you unless you are a
fashionable fellow--don't put on any more wry faces, but think of the
prize--and I must have you well up in all the accomplishments. For the
rest, you are what I call, a finely-formed, good-looking, and rather
graceful fellow, if you are my cousin.'

Hiram's features relaxed.

'When can I call on Mr. Myrtle?' he asked.

'Not for several weeks. He is taking a longer vacation than usual.
However, come with me every Sunday, and you will hear Mr. Strang, our
curate, who officiates in Mr. Myrtle's absence. A most excellent man,
and a very fair preacher.'

'Have you a Sunday school connected with the church?'

'Do you think we are heathen, Hiram? Have we a Sunday school? I should
suppose so! What is more, the future Mrs. Meeker is one of the
teachers,'

'Yet she waltzes?'

'Yet she waltzes.'

'Well, I hope I shall understand this better by and by.'

'Certainly you will.'

The two proceeded down town to their business.

* * * * *

In a very few days after, Hiram Meeker was the pupil--the private
pupil--of Signor Alberto, dancing master to _the_ aristocracy of the
town. [That is not what he called himself, but I wish to be
intelligible.] Alberto had directions to perfect his pupil in every step
practised in the world of fashion. Hiram proved an apt and ready
scholar. He gave this new branch of education the same care and
assiduity that he always practised in