From Debby’s eyes there shot a bright glance of admiration for the young man who could look two comely women in the face and serenely own that he was poor.  Mrs. Carroll tried to appear at ease, and, gliding out of personalities, expatiated on the comfort of “living in a land where fame and fortune were attainable by all who chose to earn them,” and the contempt she felt for those “who had no sympathy with the humbler classes, no interest in the welfare of the race,” and many more moral reflections as new and original as the Multiplication-Table or the Westminster Catechism.  To all of which Mr. Evan listened with polite deference, though there was something in the keen intelligence of his eye that made Debby blush for shallow Aunt Pen, and rejoice when the good lady got out of her depth and seized upon a new subject as a drowning mariner would a hen-coop.

“Dora, Mr. Ellenborough is coming this way; you have danced with him but once, and he is a very desirable partner; so, pray, accept, if he asks you,” said Mrs. Carroll, watching a far-off individual who seemed steering his zigzag course toward them.

“I never intend to dance with Mr. Ellenborough again, so please don’t urge me, Aunt Pen”; and Debby knit her brows with a somewhat irate expression.

“My love, you astonish me!  He is a most agreeable and accomplished young man,—­spent three years in Paris, moves in the first circles, and is considered an ornament to fashionable society.  What can be your objection, Dora?” cried Mrs. Carroll, looking as alarmed as if her niece had suddenly announced her belief in the Koran.

“One of his accomplishments consists in drinking Champagne till he is not a ‘desirable partner’ for any young lady with a prejudice in favor of decency.  His moving in ‘circles’ is just what I complain of; and if he is an ornament, I prefer my society undecorated.  Aunt Pen, I cannot make the nice distinctions you would have me, and a sot in broadcloth is as odious as one in rags.  Forgive me, but I cannot dance with that silver-labelled decanter again.”

Debby was a genuine little piece of womanhood; and though she tried to speak lightly, her color deepened, as she remembered looks that had wounded her like insults, and her indignant eyes silenced the excuses rising to her aunt’s lips.  Mrs. Carroll began to rue the hour she ever undertook the guidance of Sister Deborah’s headstrong child, and for an instant heartily wished she had left her to bloom unseen in the shadow of the parsonage; but she concealed her annoyance, still hoping to overcome the girl’s absurd resolve, by saying, mildly,—­

“As you please, dear; but if you refuse Mr. Ellenborough, you will be obliged to sit through the dance, which is your favorite, you know.”

Debby’s countenance fell, for she had forgotten that, and the Lancers was to her the crowning rapture of the night.  She paused a moment, and Aunt Pen brightened; but Debby made her little sacrifice to principle as heroically as many a greater one had been made, and, with a wistful look down the long room, answered steadily, though her foot kept time to the first strains as she spoke,—­