s closer clasp of the unconscious form, which at his mother's
desire he was bearing to a settee. Whether it were the water which oozed
from his saturated garments over her face and neck, or some subtle
magnetic fluid conveyed in that tender clasp, that aroused her, we
cannot tell; but a faint tinge of color revisited her cheeks and lips,
and as Philip laid her tenderly down, while his arms were still around
her, and his face was bending over her, she opened her eyes. What there
was in that first look which called such a sudden flash of joy into
Philip Oswald's eyes, we know not; nor what were the whispered words
which, as he bowed his head yet lower, sent a crimson glow into Mary's
pale cheeks. This however we do know, that Mrs. Oswald and her son
delayed their journey for yet another week; and that the day before
their departure Philip Oswald stood with Mary Grayson at his side before
God's holy altar, and there, in the presence of his mother, Mr. Danby,
Mr. and Mrs. Randall, and a few friends, they took those vows which made
them one for ever.

Does some starched prude, or some lady interested in the bride's
_trousseau_, exclaim against such unseemly haste? We have but one excuse
for them. They were so unfashionable as to prefer the gratification of a
true affection to the ceremonies so dear to vanity, and to think more of
the earnest claims of life than of its gilded pomps.

Mr. Danby had been unable to pay down the bride's small dower of 8000
dollars; and when he called on his son-in-law, Mr. Randall, to assist
him, he could only offer to indorse his note to Mr. Oswald for the
amount, acknowledging that it would be perilous at that time to abstract
even half that amount from his business. It probably would have been
perilous indeed, as in little more than a month after he failed for an
enormous amount; but fear not, reader, for the gentle Caroline: she
still retained her elegant house and furniture, her handsome equipage
and splendid jewels. These were only a small part of what the indignant
creditors found had been made over to her by her grateful husband.

Six years have passed away since the occurrence of the events we have
been recording. Caroline Randall, weary of the sameness of splendor in
her home, has been abroad for two years, travelling with a party of
friends. It is said--convenient phrase that--that her husband had
declared she must and shall return, and that to enforce his will he has
resolved to sen