ith her to-day
were the chosen friends and lifelong companions who had ever shared her
love and confidence.

These were, Hortense Beauharnais, happy also in her recent betrothal to
Jumonville de Villiers; Heloise de Lotbiniere, so tenderly attached to
Amelie, and whom of all her friends Amelie wanted most to call by the
name of sister; Agathe, the fair daughter of La Corne St. Luc, so like
her father in looks and spirit; and Amelie's cousin, Marguerite de
Repentigny, the reflection of herself in feature and manners.

There was rich material in that chamber for the conversation of such a
group of happy girls. The bridal trousseau was spread out before
them, and upon chairs and couches lay dresses of marvellous fabric
and beauty,--muslins and shawls of India and Cashmere, and the finest
products of the looms of France and Holland. It was a trousseau fit for
a queen, and an evidence at once of the wealth of the Lady de Tilly and
of her unbounded love for her niece, Amelie. The gifts of Pierre
were not mingled with the rest, nor as yet had they been shown to her
bridesmaids,--Amelie kept them for a pretty surprise upon another day.

Upon the table stood a golden casket of Venetian workmanship, the
carvings of which represented the marriage at Cana in Galilee. It was
stored with priceless jewels which dazzled the sight and presented a
constellation of starry gems, the like of which had never been seen in
the New World. It was the gift of the Bourgeois Philibert, who gave this
splendid token of his affection and utter contentment with Amelie as the
bride of his son and heir.

The girls were startled in the midst of their preparations by the sudden
dashing past of a horseman, who rode in a cloud of dust, followed by a
wild, strange cry, as of many people shouting together in lamentation
and anger.

Amelie and Heloise looked at each other with a strange feeling, but sat
still while the rest rushed to the balcony, where they leaned eagerly
over to catch sight of the passing horseman and discover the meaning of
the loud and still repeated cry.

The rider had disappeared round the angle of the Cape, but the cry from
the city waxed still louder, as if more and more voices joined in it.

Presently men on horseback and on foot were seen hurrying towards the
Castle of St. Louis, and one or two shot up the long slope of the Place
d'Armes, galloping towards the mansion of the Lady de Tilly, talking and
gesticulating in the wilde