bound trunk, which was always
kept solemnly locked in Mrs. Katy Scudder's apartment, if it could have
spoken, might have given off quite a catalogue of brocade satin and
laces. The wedding-suit there slumbered in all the unsullied whiteness
of its stiff ground broidered with heavy knots of flowers; and there
were scarfs of wrought India muslin and embroidered crape, each of which
had its history,--for each had been brought into the door with beating
heart on some return voyage of one who, alas, should return no more! The
old trunk stood with its histories, its imprisoned remembrances,--and a
thousand tender thoughts seemed to be shaping out of every rustling fold
of silk and embroidery, on the few yearly occasions when all were
brought out to be aired, their history related, and then solemnly locked
up again. Nevertheless, the possession of these things gave to the women
of an establishment a certain innate dignity, like a good conscience; so
that in that larger portion of existence commonly denominated among them
"every day," they were content with plain stuff and homespun. Mary's
toilette, therefore, was sooner made than those of Newport belles of the
present day; it simply consisted in changing her ordinary "short gown
and petticoat" for another of somewhat nicer materials,--a skirt of
India chintz and a striped jacconet short-gown. Her hair was of the kind
which always lies like satin; but, nevertheless, girls never think their
toilette complete unless the smoothest hair has been shaken down and
rearranged. A few moments, however, served to braid its shining folds
and dispose them in their simple knot on the back of the head; and
having given a final stroke to each side with her little dimpled hands,
she sat down a moment at the window, thoughtfully watching where the
afternoon sun was creeping through the slats of the fence in long lines
of gold among the tall, tremulous orchard-grass, and unconsciously she
began warbling, in a low, gurgling voice, the words of a familiar hymn,
whose grave earnestness accorded well with the general tone of her life
and education:--

"Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time to insure the great reward."

There was a swish and rustle in the orchard-grass, and a tramp of
elastic steps; then the branches were brushed aside, and a young man
suddenly emerged from the trees a little behind Mary. He was apparently
about twenty-five, dressed in the holiday rig of a sailor on sh