them
distinguishing the various classes, and giving a very pleasing effect
to the scene. The wives were recognized by blue ribbons on their caps,
and the widows by white, while the older girls wore pink and the
younger ones bright red. Gradually all returned to their homes in the
valley below, where lay the thriving Moravian village.

One young girl, however, remained behind alone, lost in thought and
quite unconscious that her companions had already taken their way
homeward. Leaning against one of the large linden-trees, whose ancient
trunk completely screened her slim figure, she stood, looking downward
on the beautiful landscape which lay before her admiring eyes.
Mountain and valley, forest and field, were bathed in the golden
sunshine. Nothing was yet in bloom, but in every swelling bud there
seemed to lie a foreshadowing of coming glory.

"Sister Carmen, hast thou not noticed that thy companions have returned
with their elders, and that thou art left alone?" suddenly asked a deep
masculine voice at her side.

She involuntarily shrank back, as if from fear--was it because she was
alone, or was she only startled from her dreaming?--and looked timidly
at the speaker. He was a man well advanced in years; his hair
partially gray, but his complexion retaining much of its youthful
freshness and color; and there was some difficulty in determining his
age. Although his brow was thoughtful and his grave eyes habitually
looked upward with an expression of calm serenity and humble piety, yet
the curve of his mouth, around which there lurked a peculiar smile,
contradicted the idea of sanctity.

"Have they really left me, Brother Jonathan? I had entirely forgotten
how time was passing, in the tumult of joyful feelings which filled my
heart," said the girl with a sunny smile.

"It gladdens my heart, dear sister, to know it gives you such great joy
to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord," he replied. "Truly it is a
blessed privilege to be able to lose one's self in the contemplation of
holy things, and, forgetting the cares of this present life, rejoice in
the hope of heaven, and be as one dead to every temporal joy."

"But I was not thinking at all of the life beyond the grave, only of
this present one. How beautiful it is, and what happiness to be able
to enjoy it!" she said candidly, as her youthful countenance lighted up
with a glowing expression of love of life and pleasure.

Hers was a singularly beautif