ces in some
measure the roaring flood-waters, as strength abides to perform the
necessary physical evolutions till repose comes o'er me; then I slip
into the Land of Nod through a lane of sweet magnolias, and approach
the rose-bedecked gates garlanded as if for the entry of a prince and
his bride. You are with me then, and as the cheering populace greets
us, a herald stands forth and addresses you thus:

"'She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes,
Thus mellowed to the tender light
Which Heaven to gaudy day denies.

"'And on that cheek, and o'er that brow,
So soft, so calm, yet eloquent,
The smiles that win, the tints that glow,
But tell of days in goodness spent,
A mind at peace with all below,
A heart whose love is innocent.'"

"My! but he puts it on thick," gasped Nellie, pausing for breath.

"Oh, pshaw!" said her father; "impossible to mix it too thick."

"What would he have done without Lord Byron?" asked Mrs. Gibson,
who gave me scant credit, apparently.

"Well, Byron wouldn't mind," said Gabrielle, smiling. "He would be
glad to help the cause along. The lover is strengthening his
persuasion with good poetry."

Nellie read more rapidly now, for she had learned many of my pen
oddities:

"'What a worldly fellow I was till your eyes met mine and brought me
far, far up from the depths to the heights of contemplation. My
philosophy was naught. I saw not the beauty of life, for I was lost
in a wilderness of its petty distractions. Remembering our happy days
together, why should their inspiration not sustain me now? At the
time of parting--

"'I saw thee weep--the big bright tear
Came o'er that eye of blue,
And then methought it did appear
A violet dropping dew;
I saw thee smile--the sapphire blaze
Beside thee ceased to shine;
It could not match the living rays
That filled that glance of thine.'

"'The feeling so tenderly expressed in that tear preceding the smile
holds me in thrall when I bid fear depart and wake no more the ogres
of its dread. Let me rather fondle that cherished smile,

"'As clouds from yonder sun receive
A deep and mellow dye,
Which scarce the shade of coming eve
Can banish from the sky;
Those smiles, into the