tir.

And what a day it was! One of those rare July days when the tints of the
earth and the hues of the sky though varied in color, seem to blend in
one beautiful and harmonious whole. The cypress and the myrtle, emblems
of deeds of virtue and renown, had already donned their summer dress.
The many flowers bowed gently under the weight of the flitful butterfly,
or the industrious bee, or tossed to and fro lightly in the arms of the
morning breeze. Overhead maples, resplendent in their fabric of soft and
delicate green, arched themselves like fine-spun cobwebs, through which
filigree the sun projected his rays at irregular and frequent intervals,
lending only an occasional patch of sunlight here and there to the more
exposed portions of the garden.

But nature had no power to drive Marjorie's image from his mind. Try as
he would, he could not distract his attention to the many problems which
ordinarily would have engaged thoughts. What mattered it to him that the
French fleet was momentarily expected, or that the Continental Congress
was again meeting in the city, or that he had met with certain
suspicious looking individuals during the course of the day! There was
yet one who looked peculiarly suspicious and who was enveloped, as far
as his knowledge was concerned, in a veil of mystery of the strangest
depth. She, indeed, was a flower too fair to blush unseen or unattached.
His own unworthiness confounded him.

Nevertheless he was determined to call on her that very day, in response
to her generous invitation of last night, and in accordance too with the
custom of the time. He would there, perchance, learn more of her, of her
home, of her life, of her friends. But would he excite in her the
interest she was exciting in him? The thought of his possible remoteness
from her, pained him and made his heart sink. The noblest characters
experience strange sensations of desolation and wretchedness at the
thought of disapproval and rejection. Esteem, the testimony of our
neighbor's appreciation, the approval of those worth while, these are
the things for which we yearn with fondest hopes. To know that we have
done well is satisfaction, but to know that our efforts and our work are
valued by others is one of the noblest of pleasures. Stephen longed to
know how he stood in the lady's esteem, and so her little world was his
universe.

Dispatching the day's business as best he could, the expectant knight
set out to storm the ca