ed in Heaven, 'twas muttered in Hell,
And Echo caught softly the sound as it fell;
On the confines of Earth 'twas permitted to rest,
And the Depths of the ocean its presence confessed.
'Twill be found in the Sphere when 'tis riven asunder,
Be seen in the Lightning and heard in the Thunder.
'Twas allotted to man with his earliest Breath,
Attends at his Birth and awaits him in Death;
It presides o'er his Happiness, Honor, and Health,
Is the prop of his House and the end of his Wealth.
Without it the soldier and seaman may roam,
But woe to the Wretch who expels it from Home.
In the Whispers of conscience its voice will be found,
Nor e'en in the Whirlwind of passion be drowned.
'Twill not soften the Heart; and tho' deaf to the ear
'Twill make it acutely and instantly Hear.
But in Shade, let it rest like a delicate flower--
Oh! Breathe on it softly--it dies in an Hour."

Several had heard the riddle before and knew its significance; but
those who had not found it as difficult to guess as Frazer's "Old
Shoe" had been. So Melvin had to explain that it was a play of words
each containing the letter H; and this explanation was no sooner given
than a diversion was made by Mabel Bruce's irrelevant remark:

"I never picked grapes off a vine in my life, never!"

"Hi! Does that mean you want to do so now?" demanded Monty, alert. He,
too, had grown tired of a game in which he did not excel, and eagerly
followed the direction of her pointing, chubby finger. A finger on
which sparkled a diamond ring, more fitting for a matron than a
schoolgirl young as she.

Along that side of the barn, rising from the hay strewn floor to the
loft above, ran a row of upright posts set a few inches apart and
designed to guard a great space beyond. This space was to be filled
with the winter's stock of hay and its cemented bottom was several
feet lower than the floor whereon the merry-makers sat. As yet but
little hay had been stored there, and the posts which would give
needful ventilation as well as keep the hay from falling inward, had
been utilized now for decoration.

The boyish decorators had not scrupled to rifle the Deerhurst
vineyards of their most attractive vines, and the cluster of fruit on
which Mabel had fixed a covetous eye was certainly a tempting one.
The rays from two Chinese lanterns, hung near it, brought out its
juicy lusciousness with even m