nd continuing her walk. The old man
received him, of course, with politeness, and after a short
conversation, his visiter who seemed much embarrassed, observed that he
was desirous of entering the holy state, and then went on to give an
account of his prospects, expectations, possessions, references, hopes,
fears, anxieties, &c. The seaman listened with attention to the whole
catalogue, mentally exclaiming, "what the d--l does all this mean?"

"In short, sir," said he of Broadway, "I have seen no young lady who
seems so well calculated to make a man happy as your lovely daughter
Mary; and if you have no objection, I should be happy to be permitted to
pay my addresses to her, if her affections are not already engaged."

The old sea-dog, who had been rubbing his chin during the latter part of
his visiter's harangue, observed that "his daughter was indeed a fine
girl, and he (Mr. Millinet) had not and could not say any more good of
her than she deserved; that as to her affections being engaged, he did
not pretend to bother his brain about an affair that did not concern
him, trusting that the girl had good sense enough to make a proper
choice; that with regard to paying his addresses to her, he might sheer
alongside as quick as he liked--he would without doubt find her at
quarters and all ready for action; and finally that he, her father,
would not interfere to thwart her wishes in so important an affair as
the choice of a husband, for," (he repeated, with an internal chuckle as
the thought crossed his mind, that his favorite Tom Kelson was beyond a
doubt the man of her choice,) "Mary knew what she was about, and had wit
enough to make a judicious choice."

This speech, an exceedingly long one for him, was listened to with great
satisfaction by his fashionable guest, who thus armed with the father's
consent, as he regarded it, never dreamed of the possibility of any
difficulty on the daughter's part, and looked upon the whole affair as
settled.

In the mean time Mary, regardless of her victory over the heart of her
New York visiter, was quietly pursuing her evening walk with Kelson, to
whom she had made known the presence, in the vicinity, of his rival. Her
lover heard the intelligence with a feeling of dissatisfaction that he
could not exactly define--he had unbounded confidence in his Mary's
constancy and love just at that present time, but, like most men, he had
rather a mean opinion of woman's constancy in general, a