Ah  !  I  see  ;  it  will  be  charming  ;  "  and  so  saying,  she  held  the
leaves  each  in  one  hand  to  the  sides  of  her  head,  and  then  floated
about  the  room  for  needle  and  thread,  and  with  a  few  nimble
stitches  fastened  together  the  simple  green  crown,  which  her
cousin  put  on  for  her,  making  the  points  meet  above  her  fore-
head. Mary  was  wild  with  delight  at  the  e£Eect,  and  full  of
thanks  to  Tom  as  he  helped  them  hastily  to  tie  up  bouquets,
and  then,  amid  much  laughing,  they  squeezed  into  the  wheel
chair  together  (as  the  fashions  of  that  day  allowed-  two  young
ladies  to  do),  and  went  off  to  their  party,  leaving  a  last  injunc-
tion on  him  to  go  up  and  put  the  rest  of  the  flowers  in  water,
and  to  call  directly  after  breakfast  the  next  day.  He  obeyed
his  orders,  and  pensively  arranged  the  rest  of  the  flowers  in
the  china  ornaments  on  the  mantelpiece,  and  in  a  soup  plate,
which  he  got  and  placed  in  the  middle  of  the  table,  and  then
spent  some  minutes  examining  a  pair  of  gloves  and  other  small
articles  of  women's  gear  which  lay  scattered  about  the  room.
The  gloves  particularly  attracted  him,  and  he  flattened  them
out  and  laid  them  on  his  own  large  brown  hand,  and  smiled  at
the  contrast,  and  took  other  unjustifiable  liberties  with  them ;
after  which  he  returned  to  college  and  endured  much  banter
as  to  the  time  his  call  had  lasted,  and  promised  to  engage  his
cousins,  as  he  called  them,  to  grace  some  festivities  in  St.  Am-
brose's at  their  first  spare  moment.
