"Ah, you there, Reuben! Be sure you take good care of this little girl, and see that she has plenty of pleasant partners," said the young gentleman, on seeing Gray behind. "Be sure I shall take care of her, sir, as if she was my sister, as I hope some day she may be," replied the man. "And be careful that she gets a good place at the supper-table--there will be a rush, you know." "I shall see to that, sir." "Good evening, Hannah; good evening, Nora," said the young heir, smiling and bowing as he withdrew from the sisters. Nora sighed; it might have been from fatigue. Several country beaus approached, eagerly contending, now that the coast was clear, for the honor of the beauty's hand in the dance. But Nora refused one and all. She should dance no more this evening, she said. Supper came on, and Reuben, with one sister on each arm, led them out to the great tent where it was spread. There was a rush. The room was full and the table was crowded; but Reuben made good places for the sisters, and stood behind their chairs to wait on them. Hannah, like a happy, working, practical young woman in good health, who had earned an appetite, did ample justice to the luxuries placed before them. Nora ate next to nothing. In vain Hannah and Reuben offered everything to her in turn; she would take nothing. She was not hungry, she said; she was tired and wanted to go home. "But wouldn't you rather stay and see the fireworks, Nora?" inquired Reuben Gray, as they arose from the table to give place to someone else. "I don't know. Will--will Mr.--I mean Mrs. Brudenell and the young ladies come out to see them, do you think?" "No, certainly, they will not; these delicate creatures would never stand outside in the night air for that purpose." "I--I don't think I care about stopping to see the fireworks, Reuben," said Nora. "But I tell you what, John said how the young heir, the old madam, the young ladies, and the quality folks was all a-going to see the fireworks from the upper piazza. They have got all the red-cushioned settees and arm-chairs put out there for them to sit on." "Reuben, I--I think I will stop and see the fireworks; that is, if Hannah is willing," said Nora musingly. And so it was settled. The rustics, after having demolished the whole of the plentiful supper, leaving scarcely a bone or a crust behind them, rushed out in a body, all the worse for a cask of old rye whisky that had been broached, and began to search for eligible stands from which to witness the exhibition of the evening.