mental comment by the forty guests.
The women, looking at the costly dress of the bride, pronounced her
beautiful. The men, never noticing her dress, but observing her pale
face and heavy eyes, were not vividly impressed with her loveliness. Bog
was admired by all, and envied by none to whom his history was known.
The old ladies took a mild maternal interest in him, because he was an
orphan; and the young ladies thought extremely well of him, because he
was a strong, gallant, handsome fellow. Overtop was regarded with
curiosity, as the reputed hero of the Slapman scandal. Matthew Maltboy
was universally condemned as too fat, and, with that brief criticism,
was dismissed. Miss Pillbody was pronounced "a little proud," because
she stood straight, with shoulders thrown back, which was her usual
attitude. Miss Trapper was admitted to be a very modest and diffident
creature, because she had a slight stoop in the back, which was chronic.

Old Van Quintem stood near the wedding party, and recalled, with fond
minuteness, the hour when one, about the same age as Pet, and resembling
her in the freshness of her youthful beauty, had crowned him with
happiness. Mrs. Crull was close by, and looked at the bride, whom she
had dressed, with the pride of an artist. Mrs. Frump stood next to her,
and shared in the same sentiments. Marcus Wilkeson's appointed place was
somewhere in the neighborhood of the bride; but he shrank away to the
side of Uncle Ith, who also obstinately clung to the other end of
the room.

The venerable clergyman stepped into the centre of the small open space
which had been left in front of the bridal party, and uttered a cough,
at which signal the buzz of conversation ceased.

The ceremony was very brief and simple--according to the ritual of the
Dutch Church--and people were married by it before they knew it. The
minister had received, in advance, a fee of unprecedented size, which
was, at that moment, lying at the bottom of his wife's pocket, and which
that good woman had already spent, in imagination, on a new bonnet for
herself, a new hat for the minister, dresses for the girls, books for
the boys, and playthings for the baby. If the dimensions of the fee had
any effect whatever on the mind of the excellent minister, that effect
was to hurry up the ceremony, and make the two one with the least
possible delay.

At last the magical, binding words were spoken; and the husband,
stooping proudly to the not-aver