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;

110

Or, at the joyous feast of the Patron Saint of the vil

lage,

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;

Gabriel Lajeunesse, the son of Basil the black

smith,

115

Who was a mighty man in the village, and honored

of all 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 Felician,

120

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.

122. The plain-song is a monotonic recitative of the collects.

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

125

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

plaything,

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

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 hillside bounding, they glided away o'er the

meadow.

135

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;

133. The French have another saying similar to this, that they were guests going into the wedding.

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.

140

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.

"Sunshine of Saint Eulalie was she called; for that was the sunshine

Which, as the farmers believed, would load their orchards with apples ;

145

She too would bring to her husband's house delight and abundance,

Filling it full of love and the ruddy faces of children.

II.

Now had the season returned, when the nights grow colder and longer,

And the retreating sun the sign of the Scorpion en

ters.

139. In Pluquet's Contes Populaires we are told that if one of a swallow's young is blind the mother bird seeks on the shore of the ocean a little stone, with which she restores its sight; and he adds, "He who is fortunate enough to find that stone in a swallow's nest holds a wonderful remedy." Pluquet's book treats of Norman superstitions and popular traits. 144. Pluquet also gives this proverbial saying:—

"Si le soleil rit le jour Sainte-Eulalie,

Il y aura pommes et cidre à folie."

(If the sun smiles on Saint Eulalie's day, there will be plenty of apples, and cider enough.)

Saint Eulalie's day is the 12th of February.

Birds of passage sailed through the leaden air, from the ice-bound,

150

Desolate northern bays to the shores of tropical is

lands.

Harvests were gathered in; and wild with the winds of September

Wrestled the trees of the forest, as Jacob of old with the angel.

All the signs foretold a winter long and inclement. Bees, with prophetic instinct of want, had hoarded

their honey

155

Till the hives overflowed; and the Indian hunters as

serted

Cold would the winter be, for thick was the fur of the

foxes.

Such was the advent of autumn. Then followed that beautiful season,

Called by the pious Acadian peasants the Summer of All-Saints!

Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape

160

Lay as if new-created in all the freshness of child

hood.

Peace seemed to reign upon earth, and the restless heart of the ocean

Was for a moment consoled.

harmony blended.

All sounds were in

Voices of children at play, the crowing of cocks in the farm-yards,

159. The Summer of All-Saints is our Indian Summer, AllSaints Day being November 1st. The French also give this season the name of Saint Martin's Summer, Saint Martin's Day being November 11th.

Whir of wings in the drowsy air, and the cooing of pigeons,

165

All were subdued and low as the murmurs of love, and the great sun

Looked with the eye of love through the golden vapors around him;

While arrayed in its robes of russet and scarlet and yellow,

Bright with the sheen of the dew, each glittering tree of the forest

Flashed like the plane-tree the Persian adorned with mantles and jewels.

170

Now recommenced the region of rest and affection and stillness.

Day with its burden and heat had departed, and twilight descending

Brought back the evening star to the sky, and the herds to the homestead.

Pawing the ground they came, and resting their necks on each other,

And with their nostrils distended inhaling the freshness of evening.

175

Foremost, bearing the bell, Evangeline's beautiful

heifer,

Proud of her snow-white hide, and the ribbon that waved from her collar,

Quietly paced and slow, as if conscious of human affection.

170. Herodotus, in his account of Xerxes' expedition against Greece, tells of a beautiful plane-tree which Xerxes found, and was so enamored with that he dressed it as one might a woman, and placed it under the care of a guardsman (vii. 31). Another writer, Ælian, improving on this, says he adorned it with a necklace and bracelets.