"Oh, what a dismal face! Run, before Aunt Faith comes."
"And the picture you were going to buy," said Bessie, with tearful eyes.
"Foolish child! as if I cared for the picture; when I am rich I shall buy a whole gallery. Now run; I positively hear their voices at the gate."
As Bessie went away with a full heart, Aunt Faith, Sibyl, and Graham Marr came up the garden-walk and entered the house. "You came away early, Hugh," said Aunt Faith; "do you feel well?"
"I am tired, aunt; that is all."
"It was a pleasant party," continued Aunt Faith; "did you not think so, Sibyl?"
"I enjoyed it!" said Sibyl quietly.
"It was a rare feast," said Graham; "one seldom meets such a combination of aesthetic talent in Westerton."
"Mr. Leslie was not there, however," said Hugh.
"Ah,—no. But ministers are not generally cultivated musicians," said Graham, in his slow way. "They have not the time to,—ah,—to muse upon the mystery of harmony."