cle of food was
ever placed before her father's almost constant visitors that did
not in some measure pass under her supervision. Poor would have
been the preparation of the grosser viands had not her directing
voice presided; and, as for the tarts, and puddings, and custards,
_et hoc genus omne_, no one who tasted could doubt that no hands
but her own had operated in the fabrication; and the currant, the
cranberry, the strawberry jelly, the peach, the plum, and the cherry
preserve, and the currant and gooseberry wine! What, in the name
of all that is delicate in gastronomy, could be more delicious or
exhibit greater perfection of taste! So thought Von Voltenberg. He
was in raptures. Such a wife, he thought, was all he wanted to his
comfort; he could have dispensed, if necessary, with the more
intellectual portions of the worth of Margaret McKenzie, but his
imagination could not picture to itself perfection superior to that
of an interesting and beautiful woman, manipulating among fruit,
and sugar, and dough, until she had produced results far sweeter
and much more prized by him than all the ornamental accomplishments
in the world. It was even whispered that the Doctor, deeply sensible
of the treasure he should obtain in the possession of so generally
useful a wife, had absolutely proposed for her, but that she,
without offending him, had rejected the honor. Whether it was so
or not, no one knew positively, for Margaret McKenzie was not a
woman to triumph in the humiliation of another, not because she
considered it in any way a humiliation to a man that he did not so
accord in sentiment with her as to render an union for life with
him desirable, but because she knew it would, however absurdly,
draw upon him the ill-natured comments of his companions. Be that
as it may, whether or not he did offer and was rejected, it made
no difference in his relations with the family. He ate her dinner,
luxuriated over her preserves, and sipped her wine as plentifully
as when first she had offered them to him; and they always were
the best friends in the world.

Soon after the first rumor of Von Voltenberg's offer--and if the
secret was betrayed, it must have been by himself, during one of
his moments of devotion to his favorite whiskey punch--it was
generally known throughout the fort and neighborhood that Lieutenant
Elmsley was to espouse Miss McKenzie, and that the ceremony was
only delayed until the arrival of his the officer so