n which farther to search.

I hastily scraped away earth, stones, and moss from the cutting of the
letters, for it was quickly getting darker, and I wished to make out at
once the long-buried secret. I succeeded; without question, though
certainly with difficulty, I read the inscription, in two lines under
each other:

Hic habitat Felicit...
Nihil mali intret.

The two last letters of the third word alone were missing; the stone
was here broken away, and its companion piece was not to be found; but
it was self-evident that the missing letters were--as--the inscription
meant:

Here dwells happiness;
May nothing evil enter in.

Clearly the gray marble slab had formed the threshold of the entrance
to the garden or porch of the villa; and the adage expressed the wish
that all evil might be kept far from the door.

I sought in vain for yet farther traces, for remains of household
utensils.

Pleased and satisfied with the discovery of the pretty proverb, I then
rested.

Wiping my heated brow, I sat down on the soft moss by my work, thinking
again and again of the words; I supported my back against an old oak,
which had grown up out of the rubbish of the house, or, perhaps, out of
the good mould of the little garden.

A wondrous quiet reigned over the hill, which was quite separated from
the world by trees and bushes.

Only very, very faintly one heard the trickling of the small, scanty
vein of water which came out of the earth close by me, and only
sometimes, when it found a quicker fall, rippled more strongly. Once,
no doubt, when handsomely enclosed in the clear gray marble, it had
spoken loader.

In the distance, on the summit of a high beech, the golden oriole sang
its flute-like evening song, which told of still deeper forest
loneliness, for the listener seldom hears the notes of the "Pirol,"
except in such a solitude. Bees hummed here and there over the mossy
carpet, coming out of the dark thicket and seeking the warmer light,
sleepy themselves and lulling to sleep with their humming.

I thought, whose "happiness" once dwelt here? And has the wish of the
inscription been fulfilled? Was the proverb powerful enough to keep off
all evil? The stone which bore it is broken--a bad sign. And what kind
of happiness was this? But stay! At that time Felicitas occurs as a
_woman's name_; perhaps the proverb, with a graceful double meaning,
would say: "Here dwells ha