n the direction of the pavilion, that he still thought
of her who was absent; while the faculties of the two others were either
in better subjection, or less stimulated by anxiety. One who understood
the character of the individual, and who was acquainted with the past,
might have suspected, by this indifference on the part of the Patroon,
placed as it was in such a singular contrast to a sort of mysterious
animation which enlivened a countenance whose ordinary expression was
placid content, that the young suitor thought less than formerly of the
assets of old Etienne, and more of the secret pleasure he found in the
singular incidents of which he had been a witness.

"Propriety and discretion!" observed the burgher, in reply to a remark of
one of the young men--"I say again, for the twentieth time, that we shall
have Alida Barberie back among us, as handsome, as innocent, ay, and as
rich, as ever!--perhaps I should also say, as wilful. A baggage, to worry
her old uncle, and two honorable suitors, in so thoughtless a manner!
Circumstances, gentlemen," continued the wary merchant, who saw that the
value of the hand of which he had to dispose, was somewhat reduced in the
market, "have placed you on a footing, in my esteem. Should my niece,
after all, prefer Captain Ludlow for a partner in her worldly affairs, why
it should not weaken friendship between the son of old Stephanus Van
Staats and Myndert Van Beverout. Our grandmothers were cousins, and there
should be charities in the same blood."

"I could not wish to press my suit," returned the Patroon, "when the lady
has given so direct a hint that it is disagreeable--"

"Hint me no hints! Do you call this caprice of a moment, this trifling, as
the captain here would call it, with the winds and tides, a hint! The girl
has Norman blood in her veins, and she wishes to put animation into the
courtship. If bargains were to be interrupted by a little cheapening of
the buyer, and some affectation of waiting for a better market in the
seller, Her Majesty might as well order her custom-houses to be closed at
once, and look to other sources for revenue. Let the girl's fancy have its
swing, and the profits of a year's peltry against thy rent-roll, we shall
see her penitent for her folly, and willing to hear reason. My sister's
daughter is no witch, to go journeying for ever about the world, on a
broomstick!"

"There is a tradition in our family," said Oloff Van Staats, his eye
lig