around them the
contented atmosphere of home. All these things together confirmed
Mavis in the feeling that she had reached the apotheosis of her
party-giving.

At the bottom of the table there was of course slight excess. The fun
down there became rather broad. And old Mrs. Goudie made jokes which
she reserved solely for weddings, and which she had better have kept
to herself even then.

Dale proposed the bride's health, and spoke in the dignified easy
style of a man who is accustomed to addressing large audiences, but
who is tactfully able to reduce the compass of his voice and the
weight of his manner for friendly informal gatherings. He was only
heavy--and not a bit too heavy--when he thanked Mary for the kindness
she had always shown to him and his. Then he pointed to the gold
locket that was his wedding present, and said that when she wore that
round her neck, as she was wearing it now, "it reposed on a loyal,
faithful heart." This caused Mary to weep.

The opening of the higgler's speech was in deplorable taste--all about
widowers making the best husbands. He said, "Widowers know what to
expect; so they ain't disappointed. And if they've suffered in their
first venture, it's an easy job for Number Two to please 'em;" and he
winked to right and left. Mavis and Dale were looking uncomfortable.
Fortunately, however, the speech improved toward the end of it.

"All I ask of Mary is to look nice--and that she can't help doing,
bless her bonny face; to speak nice--and that she can do if she tries,
and copies Mrs. Dale; and to act nice--and in that she'll have an
example under her eyes, for I mean to act uncommon nice to her."

When, winking and bowing, he resumed his seat by Mary's side, the
applause from the bottom of the table was vociferous. "Brayvo. He hev
a said it smart. Never 'eard it better worded. Well done, Mr. Druitt."

Half the flowers had lost their color in the extending shadow of the
house before Mr. and Mrs. Druitt drove away. The higgler's pony
groaned between the shafts of a cart that was much too big for him;
rice and old shoes struck the wheels; Mrs. Goudie made her last joke;
the men at the yard gate shouted; Norah and the children ran a little
way along the road--and then the party was over.

After a few days Mr. Druitt called exactly as usual to offer good
bacon. "Mornin', ma'am. Mary sends her love, and the message that
she's as happy as the day is long."

"And I hope," said Mavis, "tha