t whose giant trees, though centuries old, were
now again clothed upon with youthful freshness and beauty. Through this
green canopy of arching boughs, where sunshine and shadow intermingled,
one caught glimpses of the sky, a dome of azure velvet flecked with
fleecy white. A soft wind blew from the south, laden with the faint,
elusive fragrance of anemone and violet. From every bush and treetop
came the light-hearted carol of linnet and thrush and redbird; and in
the open spaces between the trees the sportive sunlight gleamed and
smiled so joyously that every blade of soft, green grass seemed to
quiver with gladness. The day was so golden, so filled with the tender
hope and promise of the Maytime, that Abner, yielding to its charm, for
the moment forgot his doubts and perplexities. His path led in the
direction of a shallow creek; and as he drew near the stream, he spied
upon its bank a girl who had stopped to let her horse drink. It was
Betty on old Selim. Abner gently checked his mare and sat watching her.
Her white scoop-bonnet was hanging from the pommel of the saddle, the
bridle-reins drooped carelessly upon old Selim's neck, and her hands,
encased in white linen "half hands," were crossed in her lap. She was
looking out across the country with a far-away, dreamy expression. Her
lover noticed every detail of her beauty--the regal poise of head, the
lovely outline of throat and shoulders, the rosy oval of face, the
piquant cleft of the chin, the arch curve of the upper lip, and the
ripe fullness of the lower. Presently her horse, more awake to outside
influences than was his mistress, caught the sound of a breaking twig,
and, raising his nose from the water, pricked up his ears and neighed.

"Old Selim spied me first," said Abner, riding to Betty's side.

She looked up for an instant, then her eyes fell before a scrutiny
whose blending of admiration and passionate feeling she could not fail
to understand.

"Yes," she answered lightly, laughing and striving to regain
self-possession, "Selim is glad to see you, I know; he is getting
impatient for his supper, and there's no knowing how long I might have
sat here day-dreaming, had you not appeared. Shall we ride on?"

"And is not Selim's mistress glad to see me, too?" asked Abner, as he
rode by her side.

"Oh, of course," was the reply; "but it is getting late, and we had
better hasten on."

After riding a few moments in silence, he said, laying a detaining hand