CHAPTER XV.


"And so our dear young lady is married, Ellen?" said Mrs. Williamson to
her daughter, who had just returned from a visit to B----.

"Yes, mother, and a beautiful bride she made."

"Ay, I doubt it not, and as good as beautiful," said the father, who had
just come in to Ellen's neat little cottage, to hear all the particulars
connected with her late journey.

"And they treated you well, Ellen, did they not?"

"Treated me =well=? why, mother, it was like a new world; and they were
so kind to me, took me to every place, and showed me everything worth
seeing. And, dear me, but it is a beautiful city; such grand buildings,
such water-works, such parks, all laid out with trees, and walks, and
grass-plots, and seats, where you can rest whenever you choose,--and
then at night, the splendid shops are so dazzlingly lit up, and the
streets almost as bright as day. Oh, surely it is a fine thing to live
in the city!"

"Ha, ha," said a clear, manly voice, and the speaker entered the door;
"so my little bird has become restive since her taste of city life, and
longs to fly away again."

"Indeed, Edward, that is not true. If I had been brought up to