She
could not refer Mr. Bell to her mamma, for Mr. Coacher was a widower, and
being immersed in his books, was of course unable to take the direction
of so frail and wondrous an article as a lady's heart, which Miss Martha
had to manage for herself.
A lock of her hair, tied up in a piece of blue ribbon, conveyed to the
happy Bell the result of the Vestal's conference with herself. Thrice
before had she snipt off one of her auburn ringlets, and given them away.
The possessors were faithless, but the hair had grown again: and Martha
had indeed occasion to say that men were deceivers when she handed over
this token of love to the simple boy.
Number 6, however, was an exception to former passions--Francis Bell was
the most faithful of lovers. When his time arrived to go to college, and
it became necessary to acquaint Mr. Coacher of the arrangements that had
been made, the latter cried, "God bless my soul, I hadn't the least idea
what was going on;" as was indeed very likely, for he had been taken in
three times before in precisely a similar manner; and Francis went to the
University resolved to conquer honours, so as to be able to lay them at
the feet of his beloved Martha.
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