Shielding the house from storms, on the north, were the barns and the farm-yard.

There stood the broad-wheeled wains and the antique plows and the harrows;

There were the folds for the sheep; and there, in his feathered seraglio,

Strutted the lordly turkey, and crowed the cock, with the selfsame

Voice that in ages of old had startled the penitent Peter.

"Farther down, on the slope of the hill, was the well with its moss-grown Bucket, fastened with iron, and near it a trough for the horses."

Bursting with hay were the barns, themselves a village. In each one

Far o'er the gable projected a roof of thatch; and a stair

case,

Under the sheltering eaves, led up to the odorous corn-loft. There too the dove-cot stood, with its meek and innocent

inmates

tation.

Thus, at peace with God and the world, the farmer of

Grand Pré

Lived on his sunny farm, and Evangeline governed his household.

"Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened his missal, Fixed his eyes upon her as the saint of his deepest devotion."

Many a youth, as he knelt in the church and opened his missal,

Fixed his eyes upon her, as the saint of his deepest de

votion;

Happy was he who might touch her hand or the hem of her garment!

Many a suitor came to her door, by the darkness befriended, And as he knocked and waited to hear the sound of her

footsteps,

Knew not which beat the louder, his heart or the knocker

of iron;

Or at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint of the village, Bolder grew, and pressed her hand in the dance as he whispered

Hurried words of love, that seemed a part of the music. But, among all who came, young Gabriel only was welcome;

"Father Felicien,

Priest and pedagogue both in the village, had taught them their letters
Out of the selfsame book, with the hymns of the church and the
plain song.'

Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the blacksmith,

Who was a mighty man in the village, and honored of ali

men;

For since the birth of time, throughout all ages and nations, Has the craft of the smith been held in repute by the

people.

Basil was Benedict's friend. Their children from earliest

childhood

Grew up together as brother and sister; and Father Fe

lician,

Priest and pedagogue both in the village, had taught them their letters

Out of the selfsame book, with the hymns of the church and the plain-song.

But when the hymn was sung, and the daily lesson completed,

Swiftly they hurried away to the forge of Basil the blacksmith.

"There at the door they stood, with wondering eyes to behold him Take in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a plaything."

There at the door they stood, with wondering eyes to behold him

Take in his leathern lap the hoof of the horse as a play

thing,

Nailing the shoe in its place; while near him the tire of the cart-wheel

Lay like a fiery snake, coiled round in a circle of cinders. Oft on autumnal eves, when without in the gathering dark

ness

Bursting with light seemed the smithy, through every cranny and crevice,

Warm by the forge within they watched the laboring

bellows,

And as its panting ceased, and the sparks expired in the

ashes,

Merrily laughed, and said they were nuns going into the chapel.

Oft on sledges in winter, as swift as the swoop of the eagle, Down the hill-side bounding, they glided away o'er the meadow.

Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the rafters,

"Oft in the barns they climbed to the populous nests on the rafters."

Seeking with eager eyes that wondrous stone, which the swallow

Brings from the shore of the sea to restore the sight of its fledglings;

Lucky was he who found that stone in the nest of the swallow!

Thus passed a few swift years, and they no longer were children.

He was a valiant youth, and his face, like the face of the morning,

Gladdened the earth with its light, and ripened thought into action.

She was a woman now, with the heart and hopes of a

woman.