speaker paused and applied his pocket handkerchief to his
eyes. The audience was touched. 'It ain't the temporary loss of my
breeches; it ain't the long weary hours I spent shivering in that closet;
it ain't the wading home bare-footed in the snow; it ain't the finger of
scorn some gentlemen may p'int at me now, that wounds my heart; but it's
feeling and knowing that the woman I loved better than my own life; the
woman I would have lived for, or died for, to make her happy; that that
very woman----' He could say no more; his feelings overpowered him, and he
sat down.

Miss Sidebottom's sympathies were evidently touched throughout this
harangue. Until now, she had been rocking to and fro in her seat, and when
Mr. Hardesty concluded, she rushed through the crowd, threw herself on his
neck, and kissed him passionately.

'Clear the room!' bawled his worship, starting to his feet. 'Clerk,' he
continued, addressing that official personage, who was standing near,
'write me a license to unite Thomas Hardesty and Margaret Sidebottom in
the holy bands of matrimony. I know they are of age, and don't need any
guardeens.'

The judge sat down, convulsed by his own wit, while the clerk proceeded to
his task. The loving pair looked up and smiled through their tears. 'I
loved you, Tom, all the time; I did indeed. It was all in fun, dear
man--indeed it was!' Tom Hardesty threw his arms around her neck, and
pressed her head to his bosom.

'Come!' said his worship, after reading the license, 'none of your
hysterics here, but stand up and be married.' And married they were; and
the bride, in consideration of her cruelty, paid the costs of the suit and
the marriage fees; and off they marched homeward, amid the deafening
huzzas of the multitude that was gathered in the street.

Happy New-Year! that sealed Tom Hardesty's happiness! Many a changing
season has come and gone since then, and nobody knows but they are the
happiest couple in Idleberg. Mr. Hardesty's first domestic advice to his
bride was to decline Mrs. Jenkins's farther acquaintance, which she did
most readily. The old gentleman has long since despaired of having an heir
direct, but has promised John, who is prospering behind his old master's
counter, that he and Belinda shall marry before long. Mr. Richard
Sidebottom is one of the 'reformed drunkards,' and eschews Madeira
especially. He is now an attorney, _in embryo_, and gives ample promise of
carrying into his profession a