l now, the dearest creature to me on earth."

"I, too, have loved her better than anything," said Elizabeth.

"Have I not seen that? Yes, I am sure we shall make Elsie perfectly
happy. She has dreaded the loneliness of my home. Now it will be bright
as heaven for her and for me."

CHAPTER II.

TOM THE GROOMSMAN.

Music in the Central Park! Such music as made the flowering thicket,
covered with late May blossoms, thrill in the soft air and glow out more
richly from the sweet disturbance. It was a glorious afternoon, the
lawns were as green as an English meadow, and my observation of
beautiful things has no higher comparison. All the irregular hills,
ravines, and rocky projections were so broken up with trailing vines and
sweet masses of spring-flowers, that every corner and nook your eye
turned upon, was like a glimpse of paradise.

This was the still life of the scene, but above and beyond was
congregrated that active, cheerful bustle which springs out of a great
multitude bent on enjoyment--cheerful, luxurious, refined, or otherwise,
as humanity is always found. Carriages dashed in and out of the crowd,
the inmates listening to the music or chatting together in subdued
voices: groups of smiling pedestrians wandered through the labyrinths of
blooming thickets, or sat tranquilly on rustic seats sheltered by such
forest trees as art had spared to nature. The whole scene was one of
brilliant confusion; but out of the constantly shifting groups, forms so
lovely that you longed to gaze on them forever, were now and then given
to the beholder; and equipages vied with each other that might have
graced the royal parks of London or Paris without fear of criticism.

Just as the sun began to turn its silver gleams into gold, the music
ceased with a grand crash. The final melody was over, and the swarm of
carriages broke up, whirled off in different directions, and began to
course about the ring again, or drive through the various outlets
towards Harlem, Bloomingdale, or the city, which lay in the soft
gathering haze of the distance.

Among the stylish equipages that disentangled themselves from the crowd
was a light barouche, cushioned with a rich shade of drab which had a
pink flush running through it, and drawn by a pair of jet-black horses.
The carriage was so perfect in its proportions and so exquisitely neat
in its appointments, that it would have been an object of general
admiration during the whole concert,