d itself had departed.

An hour or so had passed. The fire was burning brightly on the
hearthstone, illumining with a steady glow the array of stuffed birds,
worsted samplers and old-fashioned portraits with which the walls were
adorned, but reserving its richest glow and fullest irradiation for the
bended head of Paula, who seated on a little stool in the corner of the
hearth, was watching the rise and fall of the flickering flames.

She had packed her little trunk, had said good-bye to all her
neighboring friends and was now sitting on the old hearthstone, musing
upon the new life that was about to open before her. It was a happy
musing, as the smile that vaguely dimpled her cheeks and brightened her
eyes beneath their long lashes, amply testified. As Mr. Sylvester
watched her from the opposite side of the hearth where he was sitting
alone with his thoughts, he felt his heart sink with apprehension at the
fervor of anticipation with which she evidently looked forward to the
life in the new home. "The young wings think to gain freedom," thought
he, "when they are only destined to the confinement of a gilded cage."

He was so silent and looked so sad, Paula with a certain sort of
sensitiveness to any change in the emotional atmosphere surrounding her,
which was one of her chief characteristics, hastily looked up and
meeting his eye fixed on her with that foreboding glance, softly arose
and came and sat down by his side. "You look tired," murmured she; "the
long ride after a day of business care has been too much for you."

It was the first word of sympathy with his often over-wearied mind and
body, that had greeted his ears for years. It made his eyes moisten.

"I have been a little overworked," said he, "for the last two months,
but I shall soon be myself again. What were you thinking of, Paula?"

"What was I thinking of?" repeated she, drawing her chair nearer to his
in her loving confidence. "I was thinking what wonders of beauty and art
lay in that great kernel which you call the city. I shall see lovely
faces and noble forms. I shall wander through halls of music, the echo
of whose songs may have come to me in the sob of the river or the sigh
of the pines, but whose notes in all their beauty and power have never
been heard by me even in my dreams. I shall look on great men and touch
the garments of thoughtful women. I shall see life in its fullness as I
have felt nature in its mightiness, and my heart will be s