peace of mind, and a very precious season of good feelin' toward my
fellow-creturs."

A lusty young fellow happened to make a quick step backward just at that
instant, and put his heel, with his weight on top of it, upon the
Deacon's toes.

"Aigh! What the d' d' didos are y' abaout with them great huffs o'
yourn?" said the Deacon, with an expression upon his features not exactly
that of peace and good-will to men. The lusty young fellow apologized;
but the Deacon's face did not come right, and his theology backed round
several points in the direction of total depravity.

Some of the dashing young men in stand-up collars and extensive neckties,
encouraged by Mr. Geordie, made quite free with the "Ma,dary," and even
induced some of the more stylish girls--not of the mansion-house set, but
of the tip-top two-story families--to taste a little. Most of these
young ladies made faces at it, and declared it was "perfectly horrid,"
with that aspect of veracity peculiar to their age and sex.

About this time a movement was made on the part of some of the
mansion-house people to leave the supper-table. Miss Jane Trecothick had
quietly hinted to her mother that she had had enough of it. Miss
Arabella Thornton had whispered to her father that he had better adjourn
this court to the next room. There were signs of migration,--a
loosening of people in their places,--a looking about for arms to hitch
on to.

"Stop!" said the Colonel. "There's something coming yet.--Ice-cream!"

The great folks saw that the play was not over yet, and that it was only
polite to stay and see it out. The word "ice-cream" was no sooner
whispered than it passed from one to another all down the tables. The
effect was what might have been anticipated. Many of the guests had
never seen this celebrated product of human skill, and to all the
two-story population of Rockland it was the last expression of the art of
pleasing and astonishing the human palate. Its appearance had been
deferred for several reasons: first, because everybody would have
attacked it, if it had come in with the other luxuries; secondly, because
undue apprehensions were entertained (owing to want of experience) of its
tendency to deliquesce and resolve itself with alarming rapidity into
puddles of creamy fluid; and, thirdly, because the surprise would make a
grand climax to finish off the banquet.

There is something so audacious in the conception of ice-cream, that it
is n