im. When the trees of
this great Black Forest were full of life and vegetable blood, in the
genial warmth of summer, you gathered flowers which you arranged
tastefully in the little hut; and those gifts of nature, so culled and
so dispensed by your hands, gave the dwelling a more cheerful air than
if it had been hung with tapestry richly fringed. Of an evening, with
the setting sun, glowing gold, you were wont to kneel by the side of
that old shepherd; and together ye chanted a hymn giving thanks for the
mercies of the day, and imploring the renewal of them for the morrow.
Then did the music of your sweet voice, as it flowed upon the old man's
ears in its melting, silvery tones, possess a charm for his senses which
taught him to rejoice and be grateful that, though the rest of his race
was swept away, thou, Agnes, was left!

"When the winter came, and the trees were stripped of their verdure, the
poor cottage had still its enjoyments; for though the cold was intense
without, yet there were warm hearts within; and the cheerful fire of an
evening, when the labors of the day were passed, seemed to make gay and
joyous companionship.

"But suddenly you disappeared; and the old man found himself deserted.
You left him, too, in the midst of winter--at a time when his age and
infirmities demanded additional attentions. For two or three days he
sped wearily about, seeking you everywhere in the neighboring district
of the Black Forest. His aching limbs were dragged up rude heights, that
he might plunge his glances down into the hollow chasms; but still not a
trace of Agnes! He roved along the precipices overlooking the rustling
streams, and searched--diligently searched the mazes of the dark wood;
but still not a trace of Agnes! At length the painful conviction broke
upon him that he was deserted--abandoned; and he would sooner have found
thee a mangled and disfigured corpse in the forest than have adopted
that belief. Nay--weep not now; it is all past; and if I recapitulate
these incidents, it is but to convince thee how wretched the old man
was, and how great is the extenuation for the course which he was so
soon persuaded to adopt."

"Then, who art thou that knowest all this?" exclaimed Agnes, casting
looks of alarm upon her companion.

"Thou shalt soon learn who I am," was the reply.

Agnes still gazed upon him in mingled terror and wonder; for his words
had gone to her heart, and she remembered how he had embraced her w