his whole nature as a thing of course. Did he tell her he
loved her? Perhaps he did, fifty times; perhaps he never had the courage
to say so outright. But sometimes they looked each other straight in the
eyes, and strange messages seemed to pass from one consciousness to the
other. Will the Tutor ask Number Five to be his wife; and if he does,
will she yield to the dictates of nature, and lower the flag of that
fortress so long thought impregnable? Will he go on writing such poems
to her as "The Rose and the Fern" or "I Like You and I Love You," and be
content with the pursuit of that which he never can attain? That is all
very well, on the "Grecian Urn" of Keats,--beautiful, but not love such
as mortals demand. Still, that may be all, for aught that we have yet
seen.

"Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold lover, never, never, canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal,--yet do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

.........................

"More happy love! more happy, happy love!
Forever warm, and still to be enjoyed,
Forever panting and forever young!"

And so, good-bye, young people, whom we part with here. Shadows you have
been and are to my readers; very real you have been and are to me,--as
real as the memories of many friends whom I shall see no more.

As I am not in the habit of indulging in late suppers, the reader need
not think that I shall spread another board and invite him to listen to
the conversations which take place around it. If, from time to time, he
finds a slight refection awaiting him on the sideboard, I hope he may
welcome it as pleasantly as he has accepted what I have offered him from
the board now just being cleared.

..........................

It is a good rule for the actor who manages the popular street drama of
Punch not to let the audience or spectators see his legs. It is very
hard for the writer of papers like these, which are now coming to their
conclusion, to keep his personality from showing itself too conspicuously
through the thin disguises of his various characters. As the show is now
over, as the curtain has fallen, I appear before it in my proper person,
to address a few words to the friends who have assisted, as the French
say, by their presence, and as we use the word, by the kind way in which