e-eater for Burr--Andrew
Jackson by name. The third man is Luther Martin."

"He may be learned in the law," murmured Unity, "but I would like to
know the University that taught him dress. See, Jacqueline, Charlotte
Foushee has the newest bonnet yet!"

"That is Commodore Truxtun coming in with Edmund Randolph. He looks a
seaman, every inch of him! Who is the young gentleman in blue?"

"Oh, that," replied Unity, "is Mr. Washington Irving of New York. He has
just returned from the Grand Tour, and he writes most beautifully. He
has sent me an acrostic for my keepsake that--that--"

"That I could not have written had I tried till doomsday," finished
Fairfax Cary. "Do you like acrostics, Mrs. Rand?"

Jacqueline smiled. "No, nor keepsakes either. Unity and I both like
strong prose and books with meanings. Her _facons de parler_ are many."

"Well, anyhow," said Miss Dandridge, "I like Mr. Washington Irving. He
doesn't only write acrostics; he writes prose as well. Here is the Chief
Justice."

"The second bell is ringing. We'll have all the churchyard now. Here
comes the Tenth Legion--Hay, Wirt, and McRae! Mark Wirt bow to Martin!"

"Will General Wilkinson be here?"

"Speak of--one that's often named in church--and see the waving of his
red cockfeather! This is the General now. Ahem! he looks what he is."

"And the other with the sash?"

"Eaton. They are both tarred with the same brush! Here, coming toward
us, is one of very different make! You met him yesterday, did you not?
Ha! Captain Decatur, allow me to give you anchorage!"

As he spoke, he held open the pew door. Captain Stephen Decatur smiled,
bowed, and entered, and was presently greeting with a manly, frank, and
engaging manner the beautiful Mrs. Rand and the equally lovely Miss
Dandridge, to both of whom he had been presented at an evening
entertainment. The church was now filled and the bell ceased ringing.
From the gallery came the deeper growl of the bass viol and the
preliminary breath of a flute. A moment more and the minister walked up
the aisle and, mounting the tall old pulpit, invoked a blessing, then
gave out in a fine mellow voice with a strong Scotch accent:--

"The spacious firmament on high,
With all the blue, ethereal sky
And spangled heavens, a shining frame,
Their great Original proclaim."

The choir in the gallery, viol, flute, and voices, took up the strain,
and the congregation beneath following in their turn, th