rtain, and the
blow mortal.'

He leaves the church slowly--slowly, as if counting his own footfalls,
knowing them to be his last on earth!

* * * * *

Meanwhile the night falls so softly, the skies hang so transparently
above, the air is so tranquil, that the soul trembles with delight, and
the heart unconsciously forebodes happiness. The stars peer up above the
mountains, like the eyes of angels flashing through the blue spaces of
the heavens. Swathed in her bands of darkness, and breathing up to them
the perfume of her flowers and the sighs of her lovers, the earth seems
grateful to them for their golden glances. A fitting night, surely, for
a bridal so illustrious as the one we have just seen; a long spring will
bloom from it upon the aged father. What more could he ask for his
children? His new son in high favor with the emperor, lord of lands and
serfs; his daughter, good and beautiful as an angel, goes not
portionless into the house of her husband, but is the sole heiress of
immense estates. What maiden would not envy her; what youth not wish to
take his place? And the thoughts of the old man run pleasantly on: he
thinks how happily his days will flow, blessed with the smiles of his
daughter, and surrounded by the splendor of his son. He already sees the
little grandchildren springing up before him; flowers blooming along the
pathway leading to his grave.

* * * * *

A splendid festival is to take place in his castle; few princes would
be able to give such an entertainment. The grounds are illumined as if
it were day, barrels of pitch are everywhere burning, torches are
blazing high upon his walls, windows and doors are thrown open, harps
sound and trumpets thunder, mazourkas swell upon the ear, and the gay
groups twine, twist, reel, half mad with joyous excitement. The old man
strays through the lighted halls, and converses with his guests. Tears
tremble in his eyes. Ah, many tears had gathered there in the troubled
days of his life, through its hours of sweat and blood, but they are all
passing now into these drops of gratitude to God who has brought him to
this happy time in which past sorrows are all to be forgotten. Moving
out upon his wide porticos, he pours coins from dishes of silver to the
people below. Returning, he places clusters of diamonds on the young
bosoms of the bridesmaids. Servants follow his footsteps, bending under
the wealth