t judgment, when George Manning laid aside his Western
costume and assumed one less remarkable.

Henry Manning had received a new idea--that there are those who are
above the fashion. Allied to this was another thought, which in time
found entrance to his mind, that it would be at least as profitable to
devote our energies to the acquisition of true nobility of soul, pure
and high thought and refined taste, as to the study of those
conventionalisms which are but their outer garment, and can at best only
conceal for a short time their absence.

CHAPTER IV.

The next day was brilliant. Snow had fallen during the night, and the
sun, which arose without a cloud, was reflected back from it with
dazzling brightness, while every branch and spray glittered in its
casing of ice as though it had been a huge diamond. Before we met at
breakfast, the younger members of the party had decided on a
sleigh-ride. Even Col. Donaldson _malgre_ old age and rheumatism, found
himself unable to resist the cheerful morning and their gay
solicitations, and accompanied them. Mrs. Donaldson and I were left
alone, a circumstance which did not afflict either of us. Mrs. Donaldson
was never at a loss for pleasant occupation for her hours, and Annie had
given me something to do in parting.

"Remember, Aunt Nancy, we shall look to you for our entertainment this
evening; you shall be permitted to choose your subject. Is not that
gracious?" she added, with a laugh at her own style of command,
springing at the same moment from the sleigh in which Mr. Arlington had
already placed himself at her side, and running up the steps to the
piazza, where I stood, that she might give me another kiss, and satisfy
herself that she had not wounded the _amour propre_ of her old friend,
by speaking so much _en reine_. I was, in truth, pleased to be reminded
of the demand which might be made on me in the evening, while I had time
to glance over sketches intended only for myself, and ascertain whether
they contained any thing likely to interest others.

A late dinner re-united us, and the fatigues of the morning having been
repaired by an hour's rest in the afternoon, our party was more than
usually fresh and ready for enjoyment when we met in the evening. I had
availed myself of Annie's permission, and selected my subject. It was a
crayon sketch of a lovely lake, taken by Philip Oswald, the son of one
of my most valued friends. The sketch was made while all a