oe.

"It is a scene such as is beheld by infants in their slumbers, when
they dream of paradise!" said Glenn, paying no attention to Joe, his
eyes immovably riveted on the innumerable sprigs of alabaster which
pointed out in every direction in profuse clusters, while his pale
lips seemed to move mechanically, and his brow expressed a mournful
serenity, as if entertaining a regret that he should ever be separated
from the pearly labyrinths before him, amid which he would delight to
wander forever.

"I think you must be dreaming yourself," said Joe, staring at him.

"How composed is every object!" continued Glenn; "such must be the
abode of angels and departed spirits, who are not permitted longer to
behold the strifes of earth and its contaminations, but rove
continually with noiseless tread, or on self-poised wing, through
devious and delightful paths, surrounded by sedges of silver
embroidery, and shielded above by mazy fretwork spangled with
diamonds, or gliding without effort through the pure and buoyant air,
from bower to bower of crystal"

"Ugh--talking of the icy trees makes me chilly!" said Joe.

"With life everlasting and unchangeable!" continued Glenn, after a
momentary pause from the interruption of his man, which he only
noticed by a significant motion of the hand for him to be silent.

"But I wouldn't like the eternal _frost-work_," said Joe.

"Pshaw!" replied Glenn, pursuing his way downwards. When they reached
the bottom of the valley, they were yet a hundred paces distant from
its junction with the river, which was obscured by the many
intervening trees that grew along the frozen rivulet. Here Glenn again
paused to contemplate the scene. The hills that rose abruptly on
either hand, and the thick intertwining branches above, combined to
produce a dusky aspect scarce less dim than twilight. Glenn folded his
arms composedly, and looked thoughtfully round, as if indulging the
delightful fancies engendered when wandering forth on a summer's
pleasant evening. "There seems to be a supernatural influence
pervading the air to-day," he said, in a low-tone, "for I sometimes
imagine that flitting spirits become partially visible. On the pendent
icicles and jewelled twigs, me thinks I sometimes behold for an
instant the prismatic rays of elfins' eyes--"

"Don't believe it," said Joe; "or if it is so, they are weeping at the
cold, and will soon be frozen up."

"And at each sudden turn," continued Glenn, "the