ass, they placed a tall candle, impatiently
longing for the time when these were to be illuminated. Laura was
allowed to carry a match, and assist in lighting them, but in the excess
of her joy, she very nearly made a bonfire of herself, as her frock took
fire, and would soon have been in a blaze, if Frank had not hastily
seized a large rug and rolled it round her.

In every house within sight, servants and children were to be seen
hurrying about with burning matches, while hundreds of lights blazed up
in a moment, looking as if all the houses in town had taken fire.

"Such a waste of candles!" said Mrs. Crabtree, angrily; "can't people be
happy in the dark!"

"No, Mrs. Crabtree!" answered Frank, laughing. "They cannot be happy in
the dark! People's spirits are always in exact proportion to the number
of lights. If you ever feel dull with one candle, light another; and if
that does not do, try a third, or a fourth, till you feel merry and
cheerful. We must not let you be candle-snuffer to-night, or you will be
putting them all out. You would snuff out the sun itself, to save a
shilling."

"The windows might perhaps be broken," added Laura; "for whatever pane
of glass does not exhibit a candle, is to have a stone sent through it.
Harry says the mob are all glaziers, who break them on purpose to mend
the damage next day, which they will be paid handsomely for doing."

There were many happy, joyous faces, to be seen that evening in the
streets, admiring the splendid illumination; but the merriest party of
all, was composed of Frank, Harry, and Laura, under the command of uncle
David, who had lately suffered from a severe fit of the gout; but it
seemed to have left him this night, in honour of the great victory, when
he appeared quite as much a boy as either of his two companions. For
many hours they walked about in the streets, gazing up at the glittering
windows, some of which looked as if a constellation of stars had come
down for a night to adorn them; and others were filled with the most
beautiful pictures of Britannia carrying the world on her shoulders; or
Mars showering down wreaths of laurel on the Duke of Wellington, while
victory was sitting at his feet, and fame blowing a trumpet at his ear.
Harry thought these paintings finer than any he had ever seen before,
and stood for some moments entranced with admiration, on beholding a
representation in red, blue, yellow, and black, of Europe, Asia, Africa,
and Ame