entered the sanctuary, followed by old Mr.
Devenant, whose form, bowed down with age, attracted almost as much
attention from the assembly as did the couple more particularly
interested.

As the ceremonies were finished and the priest pronounced the
benediction on the newly-married pair, Clotelle whispered in the ear of
Jerome,--

"'No power in death shall tear our names apart,
As none in life could rend thee from my heart.'"

A smile beamed on every face as the wedding-party left the church and
entered their carriage. What a happy day, after ten years' separation,
when, both hearts having been blighted for a time, they are brought
together by the hand of a beneficent and kind Providence, and united in
holy wedlock.

Everything being arranged for a wedding tour extending up the Rhine,
the party set out the same day for Antwerp. There are many rivers of
greater length and width than the Rhine. Our Mississippi would swallow
up half a dozen Rhines. The Hudson is grander, the Tiber, the Po, and
the Minclo more classic; the Thames and Seine bear upon their waters
greater amounts of wealth and commerce; the Nile and the Euphrates have
a greater antiquity; but for a combination of interesting historical
incidents and natural scenery, the Rhine surpasses them all. Nature has
so ordained it that those who travel in the valley of the Rhine shall
see the river, for there never will be a railroad upon its banks. So
mountainous is the land that it would have to be one series of tunnels.
Every three or four miles from the time you enter this glorious river,
hills, dales, castles, and crags present themselves as the steamer
glides onward.

Their first resting-place for any length of time was at Coblentz, at
the mouth of the "Blue Moselle," the most interesting place on the
river. From Coblentz they went to Brussels, where they had the greatest
attention paid them. Besides being provided with letters of
introduction, Jerome's complexion secured for him more deference than
is usually awarded to travellers.

Having letters of introduction to M. Deceptiax, the great lace
manufacturer, that gentleman received them with distinguished honors,
and gave them a splendid soiree, at which the elite of the city were
assembled. The sumptuously-furnished mansion was lavishly decorated for
the occasion, and every preparation made that could add to the novelty
or interest of the event.

Jerome, with his beautiful bride, next visited Col