eyes ever looked on. She ran across the room to
Amelius, and threw her arms round his neck. "Let me be your servant!"
she cried; "I want to live with you all my life. Jump me up! I'm wild--I
want to fly through the window." She caught sight of herself in the
looking-glass, and suddenly became composed and serious. "Oh," she said,
with the quaintest mixture of awe and astonishment, "was there ever such
another bonnet as this? Do look at it--do please look at it!"

Amelius good-naturedly approached to look at it. At the same moment
the sitting-room door was opened, without any preliminary ceremony of
knocking--and Rufus walked into the room. "It's half after ten," he
said, "and the breakfast is spoiling as fast as it can."

Before Amelius could make his excuses for having completely forgotten
his engagement, Rufus discovered Sally. No woman, young or old, high in
rank or low in rank, ever found the New Englander unprepared with his
own characteristic acknowledgment of the debt of courtesy which he owed
to the sex. With his customary vast strides, he marched up to Sally and
insisted on shaking hands with her. "How do you find yourself, miss? I
take pleasure in making your acquaintance." The girl turned to Amelius
with wide-eyed wonder and doubt. "Go into the next room, Sally, for a
minute or two," he said. "This gentleman is a friend of mine, and I have
something to say to him."

"That's an _active_ little girl," said Rufus, looking after her as she
ran to the friendly shelter of the bedroom. "Reminds me of one of our
girls at Coolspring--she does. Well, now, and who may Sally be?"

Amelius answered the question, as usual, without the slightest reserve.
Rufus waited in impenetrable silence until he had completed his
narrative--then took him gently by the arm, and led him to the window.
With his hands in his pockets and his long legs planted wide apart
on his big feet, the American carefully studied the face of his young
friend under the strongest light that could fall on it.

"No," said Rufus, speaking quietly to himself, "the boy is not raving
mad, so far as I can see. He has every appearance on him of meaning what
he says. And this is what comes of the Community of Tadmor, is it? Well,
civil and religious liberty is dearly purchased sometimes in the United
States--and that's a fact."

Amelius turned away to pack his portmanteau. "I don't understand you,"
he said.

"I don't suppose you do," Rufus remarked. "I am at