he heaven in which they dwell."

"Are you turned poet too, Master Anthony? Mary Mathews, down at the
farm, has a prettier face, or I am no judge of female beauty."

"We all know your _penchant_ for Mary Mathews. But seriously, Godfrey,
if you do not mean to marry the poor girl, it is very cruel to pay her
such lover-like attentions."

"One must do something, Tony, to pass away the time in this dull place.
As to marrying the girl, you surely do not take me for a fool?"

"I should be sorry to take you for something worse. Last night you went
too far, when you took the sweet-briar rose from her bosom and placed it
in your own; and said that you preferred it to all the flowers in the
garden; that your highest ambition was to win and wear the wild rose.
The poor girl believed you. Did you not see how she looked down and
blushed, and then up in your face with the tears in her eyes, and a
sweet smile on her severed lips. Surely, my dear cousin, it is wrong to
give birth to hopes which you never mean to realize."

A crimson flush passed over Godfrey's brow as he answered haughtily.
"Nonsense, Anthony! you take up this matter too seriously. Women love
flattery, and if we are bound in honor to marry all the women we
compliment, the law must be abolished that forbids polygamy."

"I know one who would not fail to take advantage of such an act," said
Anthony. "But really, matters that concern the happiness and misery of
our fellow creatures are too serious for a joke. I hope poor Mary's
light heart will never be rendered heavy by your gallantry."

Again the color flushed the cheek of Godfrey. He looked down, slashed
his well-polished boot with his riding-whip, and endeavored to hum a
tune, and appear indifferent to his cousin's lecture, but it would not
do; and telling Anthony that he was in no need of a Mentor, he whistled
to a favorite spaniel, and dashing his spurs into his horse, was soon
out of sight.

Mary Mathews, the young girl who formed the subject of this
conversation, was a strange eccentric creature, more remarkable for the
beauty of her person, and her masculine habits, than for any good
qualities she possessed. Her father rented a small farm, the property of
Colonel Hurdlestone; her mother died while she was yet a child, and her
only brother ran away from following the plough and went to sea.

Mathews was a rude, clownish, matter-of-fact man; he wanted some person
to assist him in looking after the farm, and