ll play pretty well, but never
as she did then. It seemed to fill the whole world, and yet it was not
too loud, either. Then the ushers went up, and then Helena and I, and
then came our dear bride on Colonel Ferrers' arm. Roger was waiting at
the altar steps with Gerald. He came forward to meet her, and took both
her hands,--oh, with such a beautiful look in his face! and then drew
her arm through his, so proud and quiet and happy, and then the service
went on. They both spoke so clearly, everybody could hear them, and the
ring was ready, and there was not a mistake anywhere; only both Jerry
and the colonel were on the point of breaking down, both of them, and
every time the colonel blew his nose I could see Jerry start and wince.
And so they were married, and the music broke out again, and Roger put
back the veil and kissed his wife; and--and then they came back down the
aisle, and--and--and that is all!"

Gertrude had struggled hard for composure. She had nearly outgrown the
childish proneness to tears, which in early days had earned her the home
sobriquet of "Chelsea Waterworks;" but this recital touched her too
nearly, and she had overcalculated her power of self-restraint. Her
voice broke altogether, and she could only nod and smile through her
tears on Bertha, who was regarding her remorsefully.

"I ought not to have made you, Toots!" said Bertha. "I did want them to
hear it, it has been so beautiful. Don't cry, dear!" But Grace Wolfe
came and laid her hand on Gertrude's shoulder, and spoke in a tone one
hardly ever heard in that voice.

"Don't stop her!" she said, gravely. "Let her cry! It's good for
her--and for all of us! Snowy, your friend is a blessed creature, and
you are another."

No one spoke for a few moments. Peggy was crying quietly in her corner,
and feeling that she had been at the wedding herself, and wondering what
she should possibly do if Margaret should ever get married.

But now the Snowy Owl wiped away her tears in good earnest, and spoke in
her own cheerful tones.

"Come, this will never do. Girls, we have extra time to-night, Miss
Russell was so kind when I told her what I wanted to do; but even that
time will be up if we don't mind. Volunteers to toast marshmallows!"

Instantly there was a rush and a cry. A dozen hands were stretched out.
Hat-pins appeared, as if by magic, brandished on every side. In another
moment a dozen marshmallows were frizzling over the gas-jets, while the
st