pains and trouble!" exclaimed Laure again.

"Of course not, I am sure I am often tired to death just choosing, and planning, and giving directions. But the Snippery girls do all the fitting and sewing besides-only think of it!"

"They have too much spirit to be unfashionable, that is all. If I were poor, I should do as they do. Kate Snippery says she had rather die at once than drop into a dowdy!"

"Oh, a dowdy!-who would be a dowdy!" exclaimed the chorus.

"Not Kate Snippery, that is certain; nor I either. I should feel miserable in a dress that was not perfectly in fashion."

"Kate has often made herself ill by working over party-dresses," continued Olivia.

66

"They make beautiful things!" observed Emma. Kate's last hat might have passed for a Lawson."

The

"A Lawson! My dear Emma-that is saying rather too much, even for Kate. She never could deceive me in that way. I can tell a Lawson, just as far as I can see one of its bows. Snipperys make very respectable things; but they cannot give them the real air, after all. I can read home-made' in them in every fold of their best dress

es.

Kappin

"So can I-and I-and I-" echoed several of the pretty group.

"Their dresses always have a copied look," continued Laura.

"You like first impressions, I see, Miss Laura-as we lovers of engravings say. The worn-out plate does not suit you," I observed.

Three pretty, gaily-dressed, highlyflounced young ladies came gliding in, and were affectionately received by the double triplet of sisters. The honor of an introduction was accorded to me. After the conversation just recorded, I looked with some curiosity at these poverty-stricken devotees at the shrine of fashion. They certainly were not clad in sack-cloth. It is mortifying to confess such dullness; but, really, to my inexperienced eye, they were just as elegantly attired as the Misses Frippery. Instead of reading home-made in every fold, it struck me there was nothing in the least home-like about them. They looked as if got up expressly for public exhibition. And it was well, perhaps, that such was the case; for these visitors-like all others of the gentler sex admitted to the boudoir-were immediately subjected to a very close, though silent scrutiny, by their fair hostess es. I had frequently noticed the same proceeding before. Amid the easy chitchat of feminine greeting going on, there was an undercurrent of close observation flowing ceaselessly over each other's silks, and ribbons; "reading a dress," they called it, I think. Laura's beautiful dark eyes, as she affectionately embraced Kate Snippery, were already wandering over collar and

mantilla; and the latter, tenderly returning her friend's salute, fixed her hazel orbs on the trimming of the morningdress before her. Emma was gazing intently in the direction of Helen Snippery's face; but it was evidently not her friend's countenance, but the hat-border which was so attractive to the affectionate creature. Had we all been in the palace of truth that morning, the meeting of the lovely friends might probably have been recorded much as follows:

"Good morning, dear"-Hat strings too short. "Cold day-Yes!"-Nose very red. "Throat sore? very sorry!" -Collar too pointed. "Poor Mr. Jones is dead!"-Prettyish buttons, those. "Children with scarlet fever, too!"Abominate green flowers. "Read Hiawatha?"-How can Kate afford such lace! "Ball to-morrow" -Awkward gathers those. Mamma pretty well, thank you"-Mean little bows!

66

Of course the fancy-ball and its costumes were discussed, with a dozen other parties, and their appropriate dresses. But I cannot attempt to follow the young ladies, as they even surpassed themselves, on that particular morning, in eloquence and vivacity, while discussing the usual subjects. To speak frankly, as day after day passed away, it began to strike me that we did not often discuss any other subjects with the same fullness of interest. Of course we indulged largely in gossip; but it was generally well sprinkled with millinery. With reading we did not meddle much;

our devotion to literature showing itself chiefly in attending fashionable lectures; where, of course, the dressing was not thrown away upon us. We were a well conducted household, we went to church regularly every Sunday morning, and sometimes in the afternoon too, when there was no company; but, true to our vocation, the hats, and collars, and sleeves, in the main aisle, were always carefully reviewed. I acquired a great deal of valuable information about loves of mantillas, or frights of hats, on Sundays. If an engagement was announced, anticipations regarding the style of dress

and furniture were considered more than the happiness of the lovers. If a baby was born, its caps and cloaks were more affectionately handled than the infant itself. If a wedding took place, the laces, cachemires, or diamonds were, of course, the chief items of interest. And more than once, after a funeral, the style of the shroud and coffin ornaments afforded us ample material for boudoir talk.

The physicians had enjoined a course of relaxation and amusement. At first these came very readily. To have all these girls talking nonsense about me from morning to night, was delightful: they diverted me extremely. It was all so new, so strange, so different from my previous bachelor habits. After a while, when the novelty had somewhat passed off, a feeling of wonder and admiration arose the unflagging devotion

of these fair creatures to the great object, their unwearied perseverance in the good cause, were astonishing. Their zeal literally rose superior to all fatigue; no desire for change of object was ever expressed; not the least symptom of exhaustion could be discovered where the toilet was in question. Nay, even in the midst of the arduous duties of a winter campaign, the sweet creatures were already anticipating the seasonslonging for "spring openings:" looking eagerly forward to new summer wardrobes, to be displayed at New York or Saratoga.

It may have been a consequence of

debility, but I confess that, at times, I now found it difficult to keep up with this extreme devotion to one subject. The powers of concentration seemed relaxed -or, in other words, I was guilty of an occasional yawn. I should, at this period, have made my visits to the boudoir less frequent; but, to take you into my confidence, good reader, I had now an especial motive for being there as often as possible. One morning, when too unwell to leave my room, as I sat languidly looking through the open door, I saw an object which immediately quickened my pulse, and aroused all my attention. The door of the boudoir

opened, and a lady came out. I instantly knew her to be the same who had already appeared to me in the car, and in the railroad cabin. The conviction of her identity flashed upon me at once; but, to make the matter more sure, she wore the same gray dress, and over her arm were thrown the same simple shawl and hat I had once so closely studied. She was alone; and, walking the entire length of the passage without observing me, went quietly down stairs. I was breathless with surprise and pleasure. Hobbling to the bell, I rang it instantly; but judge of my vexation when it proved impossible for me to discover who this visitor was. The servants had not seen her-the ladies themselves were out-no card had been left! One declared it must have been a milliner's messenger, another a female burglar! My indignation at the last accusation excited so much merriment, that my lips were henceforth closed; but, resolved to watch all visitors to the boudoir very closely, I continued even more regular in paying my court to the ladies than heretofore. Alas! the consequences were not what I had hoped. The gray dress and the gentle face did not return, while I myself began to suffer severely in health and spirits.

I became, indeed, very strangely affected. Singular symptoms, wholly different from what I had hitherto felt, began to appear. I lost all appetite. My spirits, generally so good, were very low. Languor and listlessness crept over me. I became frightfully nervous. The rustling of a silk dress made me turn pale. The fluttering of feathers threw me into agitation. An intricate pattern of embroidery produced giddiness. Bugles made me see double. Furs caused a feeling of intolerable suffocation. Jewelry brought on great oppression on the chest. The play of a spray of artificial flowers had an extremely unpleasant effect. Nay, even the most beautiful natural flowers, if placed in a jeweled bouquet-holder, produced very serious discomposure.

In vain I struggled against the attack; the evil went on rapidly increasing. Feeling, in this condition, wholly unfit for society, especially that of the boudoir and its lovely inmates, I withdrew to the seclusion of my own room, and should, perhaps, have gradually regained calmness there; but, alas! a general conspiracy seemed forming

against me. My uncle, the physician, the ladies-all agreed that now, more than ever, cheerful society was absolutely necessary-quiet and seclusion were strictly forbidden. Some days I was dragged back to the boudoir; at other times, the doors of my own apartment were thrown open, and Mrs. Glit tery, with the young ladies, kindly came to entertain me with their chit-chattalk over the last ball, display a new cachemire, or show the last trinket from Tiffany's. Little did I gain in this way; on the contrary, every day strength and spirit seemed to be wasting more and more.

At length, the very night of the great fancy ball, I was seized with an attack so violent, and so extraordinary in its character, as very seriously to alarm my friends. I had thrown myself exhausted on my bed, just as the ladies left the room, after kindly devoting half an hour to showing me their beautiful costumes, in full completeness. As the brilliant array swept through the door, on their way to the saloons, I fell on the bed, and, closing my eyes in utter weariness, endeavored to shut out the noise of wheels, and clamor of coaches, already commencing beneath my windows. How long I lay in this state, I cannot say; but I was suddenly and most effectually aroused. The door of my room opened again, and, to my surprise, I beheld the same gay troop returning to honor me with a second visit. Led by Laura, superb as a night of the tropics, they tripped in, forming a sort of basket-dance as they entered their beautiful faces and figures, and charming drapery of laces and flowers, making a picture to delight the eye of one in a sounder condition than I then was. As they whirled lightly but rapidly about me, my head began to turn, and the compliments I was about to utter died on my lips. I fell back on the pillows in a half fainting condition. Faster and faster flew the feet of the fair dancers; nearer and nearer the circle narrowed about me. Not a word was spoken, not a sound was heard-all was pantomime : graceful, but rapid, bewildering pantomime. Not the faintest murmur of music reached me. The fair creatures seemed moving like the nymphs on the Grecian vase, to unheard melodies. In the midst of these whirling evolutions, marked and wild in their movement, the fluttering gauzes and laces appeared to pass

through a thousand changes, varying perpetually, every motion revealing some new drapery unobserved before. And, imperceptibly, new faces were added to the circle-Mrs. Glittery appeared; the Snippery girls were there; all the lady visitors I had ever seen in the boudoir came thronging in, doubling and tripling the ring, yet apparently rendering it narrower and narrower at each turn. With a feeling approaching to terror, a sort of fascination of wonder and alarm, I continued to follow every rapid movement, in the midst of a silence almost supernatural in character. Vivid emotions of pleasure, curiosity, envy, vanity, mortification, played over all the countenances in succession; while the accompanying pantomime clearly conveyed the idea that each sentiment was closely interwoven, as it were, with the drapery floating about them. And still, without pause, without respite, the same thronging, bewildering, mazy waltz continued unbroken, unchanged in step and measure, while all these female figures flew about me with magical celerity, and in the midst of a silence truly appalling.

Suddenly they parted, breaking up into groups, or darting away singly A new frenzy seemed to seize them; the steps became yet more rapid, the countenances more excited, the pantomime yet wilder. White arms were thrown upwards-jeweled fingers were in eager play. In another instant, a thousand fluttering rolls of formless drapery appeared dropping from the ceiling, flowing from the hangings, fluttering out of the pictures, falling from the chandeliers, thrust in at the doors and windows, rushing upward from the heaving carpets. Swiftly turning and whirling, amid these varied fabrics, the figures seized upon them, examined, selected, rejected, with faces now all eager delight, now pondering, and profoundly thoughtful. Shop-boys, hitherto unseen, creatures all whiskers and fingers, flung themselves into the giddy circle, unfolding. exhibiting, cutting, wrapping. Maids, dress-makers, milliners, with nimble needles were there fitting, flouncing, sewing, trimming. The womenfolk of a thousand households, babies, children, nurses, housemaids, schoolgirls, aged dames, came pouring in at my door, joining in the same wild waltz. A cloud, or canopy, formed over the heads of the dancing throng, strangely

made up of ribbons, fashion-plates, gloves, gauzes, newspapers, magazines, fans, purses-generally empty-hoops, scarfs, bank-notes-all fifties and hundreds--and bills, many of fearful length

all these blending into one wreath, fluttering and whirling about the room as if driven by a hurricane of the tropics. Anon, fathers, husbands, lovers, brothers, were there, whirling, wheeling, pirouetting like the rest-among them my uncle and fifty other gray-heads prominent in Wall street. Some were smiling, some remonstrating, one pleading, another admiring, this reasoning, that reprimanding. The pockets were all, I observed, crowded with paperswhether bills or love-letters, it was impossible to say-but the more fashionable the coat, the greater was this unnatural distension. Presently the male portion of the whirling ring increased amazingly; artisans, manufacturers, editors, merchants, legislators, seamen, smugglers, lawyers, doctors, judges, policemen, jurors, appraisers, constables, auctioneers, seemed to spring up from the heavy carpeting like mushrooms, and all alike were more or less under the general influence, compelled, whether willing or not, to submit to its power. Stili, ever prominent among the motley throng, in brilliant and gay relief, were the familiar figures of the ladies of the house, and their chosen companionsthe Glittery, Frippery, and Snippery sisters. In fact, whether from a delusion or not I cannot say, but, at the moment it appeared to me as if the one great object of all consisted in decking and draping these young girls; and, the longer the extraordinary scene lasted, the clearer became this conviction. Never before, certainly, had I so full a perception of the immense importance of the toilet-the absorbing influence, the vast extent, the intricate ramifications, of this branch of American civilization. Teaching the nation, preaching to it, fighting its battles, making its laws, seem light and casual tasks compared with the arduous duty of dressing its daughters in the latest and most brilliant of fashion's caprices. I can reremember these reflections darting through my mind, with the rapidity of lightning, in the midst of the ceaseless whirl.

But, suddenly, while following with increasing wonder the ever-unwearied movement, I became aware of a most