e neighboring village; but
we knew what his bloodless cheeks meant,--the blood was all in his stout
heart,--he was a slight boy, and there was not enough to redden his face
and fill his heart both at once.

Perhaps it is making a good deal of a slight matter, to tell the
internal conflicts in the heart of a quiet person something more than
juvenile and something less than senile, as to whether he should be
guilty of an impropriety, and, if he were, whether he would get caught
in his indiscretion. And yet the memory of the kiss that Margaret of
Scotland gave to Alain Chartier has lasted four hundred years, and
put it into the head of many an ill-favored poet, whether Victoria, or
Eugenie, would do as much by him, if she happened to pass him when he
was asleep. And have we ever forgotten that the fresh cheek of the young
John Milton tingled under the lips of some high-born Italian beauty,
who, I believe, did not think to leave her card by the side of the
slumbering youth, but has bequeathed the memory of her pretty deed to
all coming time? The sound of a kiss is not so loud as that of a cannon,
but its echo lasts a deal longer.

There is one disadvantage which the man of philosophical habits of
mind suffers, as compared with the man of action. While he is taking an
enlarged and rational view of the matter before him, he lets his chance
slip through his fingers. Iris woke up, of her own accord, before I had
made up my mind what I was going to do about it.

When I remember how charmingly she looked, I don't blame myself at
all for being tempted; but if I had been fool enough to yield to the
impulse, I should certainly have been ashamed to tell of it. She did not
know what to make of it, finding herself there alone, in such guise, and
me staring at her. She looked down at her white robe and bare feet, and
colored,--then at the goblet she held in her hand, then at the taper;
and at last her thoughts seemed to clear up.

I know it all,--she said.--He is going to die, and I must go and sit by
him. Nobody will care for him as I shall, and I have nobody else to care
for.

I assured her that nothing was needed for him that night but rest, and
persuaded her that the excitement of her presence could only do harm.
Let him sleep, and he would very probably awake better in the morning.
There was nothing to be said, for I spoke with authority; and the young
girl glided away with noiseless step and sought her own chamber.

The tre