onder appearing in her eyes.

"Oh no, not at all," said the boy; and then he added, with some
suddenness, "Do you think, madame, any fine songs like that, or any
fine words that go to the heart of people, are written about any one
person? Oh no! The man has a great desire in him to say something
beautiful or sad, and he says it--not to one person, but to all the
world; and all the world takes it from him as a gift. Sometimes, yes,
he will think of one woman, or he will dedicate the music to her, or
he will compose it for her wedding, but the feeling in his heart is
greater than any that he has for her. Can you believe, madame, that
Mendelssohn wrote the Hochzeitm--the Wedding March--for any one
wedding? No. It was all the marriage joy of all the world he put into
his music, and every one knows that. And you hear it at this wedding,
at that wedding, but you know it belongs to something far away and
more beautiful than the marriage of any one bride with her sweetheart.
And if you will pardon me, madame, for speaking about myself, it is
about some one I I never knew, who is far more beautiful and precious
to me than any one I ever knew, that I try to think when I sing these
sad songs, and then I think of her far away, and not likely ever to
see me again."

"But some day you will find that you have met her in real life,"
Sheila said. "And you will find her far more beautiful and kind to you
than anything you dreamed about; and you will try to write your best
music to give to her. And then, if you should be unhappy, you will
find how much worse is the real unhappiness about one you love than
the sentiment of a song you can lay aside at any moment."

The lad looked at her. "What can you know about unhappiness, madame?"
he said with a frank and gentle simplicity that she liked.

"I?" said Sheila. "When people get married and begin to experience the
cares of the world, they must expect to be unhappy sometimes."

"But not you," he said with some touch of protest in his voice, as
if it were impossible the world should deal harshly with so young and
beautiful and tender a creature. "You can have nothing but enjoyment
around you. Every one must try to please you. You need only condescend
to speak to people, and they are grateful to you for a great favor.
Perhaps, madame, you think I am impertinent?"

He stopped and blushed, while Sheila, herself with a little touch of
color, answered him that she hoped he would always speak t