“I don’t know how ‘distinguished,’ but a respectable teacher, I hope,” replied Campbell.
“Perhaps you ought to wait until you have all your study accomplished,” said Hilary.
“The college—university—is big enough for me to do most of it right there; besides, I want to get a great deal of my material from life and a study of actual conditions. That is what the department there wants, and the president was good enough to say that he thought I was the man who could bring them what they want. Then they don’t know what a wonderful wife I’m going to take there!”
Hilary laughed. “Well, I do not see but we could marry next summer some time, while you have your vacation. I shall be graduated about this time, and you will be through with your first year’s work.”
Just then from the hall came several young men in uniform, ushered by Watts. “Bob Paget!” exclaimed Cathalina, and the whole company rose while Mr. and Mrs. Van Buskirk, Philip and Cathalina went forward to greet the callers. They were Robert Paget, Lawrence Haverhill and two other young officers who had recently arrived from France and were still in uniform. This was very thrilling to Isabel, who began to feel that she was not altogether left out of romance when Robert, having renewed acquaintance with his cousin, Helen, selected Isabel as the object of his chief attentions for the rest of the evening, saying to Cathalina as he left. “She is as sweet and pretty as a rose. How did it happen that I never met that one?”
“You were away, I think, when she was here,” Cathalina replied, and saved the remembrance of his words, to repeat to Isabel.
Cut glass, silver, linen, china,—the gifts came pouring in these last few days. Then there was a little of the old Van Buskirk silver which was Cathalina’s share. “I’ve found out, girls,” said she, “that Martin Van Buskirk was not the first one at all and did not come from Holland to fight in the Revolution. We had it all looked up when somebody wanted to go into the Daughters of the Revolution. It was a Laurens Van Buskirk who came from Denmark and bought a lot on Broad Street, New Amsterdam,—’way back in 1655. And what do you think,—a John Van Buskirk married an Esther Van Horn about 1750! So this isn’t the first time that Van Buskirk and Van Horn have married. We are going to see if she is an ancestor of Allan’s, if we can find out. She was Esther Van Horn Van Buskirk, and I’ll be Cathalina Van Buskirk Van Horne. See Isabel shaking her head! What’s the matter, Isabel?”
“All these ‘Vans’ are too much for me, It’s a good thing you can keep them straight, Cathalina.”
At last there came the eventful occasion, a mid-June night. Everything was ready at the Van Buskirk home and an extra maid or two helped the girls with their dressing. Cathalina had disappeared from view entirely several hours before, as her mother insisted upon a little rest for everybody that afternoon, and trays were brought to the rooms about five o’clock. Bags and trunks were already at the station, checked for the trip and Allan Van Horne had his tickets safely in the suit to which he would change from his dress suit. Phil remarked that as there were so many details to attend to about a wedding he thought that he would “just kidnap Lilian, stop at a minister’s to be married, and catch the first train out of New York, or take the boat.”
“Where to?” asked Lilian upon this occasion.