"However, he is the spiritual director of _la belle Puritaine_, and was a resident in my grandfather's family, so I did the agreeable with him as well as such an uncircumcised Ishmaelite could. I discoursed theology,--sat with the most docile air possible while he explained to me all the ins and outs in his system of the universe, past, present, and future,--heard him dilate calmly on the Millennium, and expound prophetic symbols, marching out before me his whole apocalyptic menagerie of beasts and dragons with heads and horns innumerable, to all which I gave edifying attention, taking occasion now and then to turn a compliment in favor of the ladies,--never lost, you know. "Really, he is a worthy old soul, and actually believes all these things with his whole heart, attaching unheard-of importance to the most abstract ideas, and embarking his whole being in his ideal view of a grand Millennial _finale_ to the human race. I look at him and at myself, and ask, Can human beings be made so unlike? "My little Mary to-day was in a mood of 'sweet austere composure' quite becoming to her style of beauty; her _naive nonchalance_ at times is rather stimulating. What a contrast between her and _la belle Française!_--all the difference that there is between a diamond and a flower. I find the little thing has a cultivated mind, enriched by reading, and more by a still, quaint habit of thinking, which is new and charming. But a truce to this. "I have seen our friends at last. We have had three or four meetings, and are waiting to hear from Philadelphia,--matters are getting in train. If Messrs. T. and S. dare to repeat what they said again, let me know; they will find in me a man not to be trifled with. I shall be with you in a week or ten days, at farthest. Meanwhile stand to your guns. "Ever yours, "BURR." CHAPTER XVII. The next morning, before the early dews had yet dried off the grass, Mary started to go and see her friend Mrs. Marvyn. It was one of those charming, invigorating days, familiar to those of Newport experience, when the sea lies shimmering and glittering in deep blue and gold, and the sky above is firm and cloudless, and every breeze that comes landward seems to bear health and energy upon its wings. As Mary approached the house, she heard loud sounds of discussion from the open kitchen-door, and, looking in, saw a rather original scene acting.