clear and distinct in the morning light.

"Was it a dream?" I said to myself. "Surely not. The earth is not the
only home of life in the universe. Urania, the celestial muse, is now
unfolding before our astonished eyes the panoramas of infinity, and we
know at last that we are not the children of the earth, but citizens of
the heavens."

* * * * *

DE LA MOTTE FOUQUE

Undine

Friedrich Heinrich Karl Fouque, Baron de la Motte, was born at
Brandenburg, in Prussia, Feb. 12, 1777, and died in Berlin
January 23, 1843. The mixed nationality indicated by his name
is accounted for by his descent from a French Huguenot family.
He served as a Prussian cavalryman in the two campaigns
against Napoleon of 1792 and 1813, but during the long
interval between devoted himself actively to intellectual
culture and literary pursuits. He began his career as an
author by translating the "Numancia" of Cervantes, but his
admiration of the ancient Norse sagas and the old German
legends led him into the composition of exquisitely beautiful
and tender, though exceedingly fantastic, romances which
speedily gained immense popularity. In these productions fairy
and magical elements predominate. His masterpiece is "Undine,"
published in 1814, the other best-known works being "Sintram,"
"Aslauga's Knight," and "The Two Captains." In all Fouque's
stories the marks of genius appear in his brilliant
imagination and pure and fascinating diction.

_I.--The Water Sprite_

About a century ago an aged fisherman sat mending his nets by his
cottage door, in front of a lovely lake. Behind his dwelling stretched a
sombre forest, reputed to be haunted by goblin creatures. Through this
gloomy solitude the pious old fisherman frequently passed, religiously
dispelling all terrors by singing hymns as he went with his fish to a
town near the border of the forest.

One evening he heard the sound of a horse's hoofs, and presently
appeared a knight riding on a splendid steed, and clad in resplendent
armour. The stranger stopped, and besought shelter for the night, and
the good old fisherman accorded him a most cheery welcome, taking him
into the cottage, where sat his aged wife by a scanty fire. Soon the
three were freely conversing. The knight told of his travels and
revealed that he was Sir Huldbrand of Ringstetten, where he h