bleached stubble of the recent harvest. There
were glimpses of the white houses of the village through the trees, and,
now and then, a traveller passed slowly along the winding road, but
there was nothing far or near to disturb the sweet quiet of the scene
now so familiar and so dear, and Mrs Snow gazed out upon it with a
sense of peace and rest at her heart which showed in her quiet face and
in her folded hands.

It showed in Mr Snow's face, too, as he glanced now and then over the
edge of the newspaper he was holding in his hand. He was reading, and
she was supposed to be listening, to one of the excellent articles which
weekly enriched the columns of _The Puritan_, but the look that was
coming and going on his wife's face was not just the look with which she
was wont to listen to the doings of the County Association of ministers,
Mr Snow thought, and, in a little, he let the paper drop from his hand.

"Well, and how did they come on with their discussions?" said Mrs Snow,
her attention recalled by the silence.

Mr Snow smiled.

"Oh! pretty much so. Their discussions will keep a spell, I guess,"
said he, taking off his spectacles, and changing his seat so as to look
out of the window.

"It is a bonny day," said Mrs Snow, softly.

"Yes, it is kind of pleasant."

There was nothing more said for a long time. Many words were not needed
between these two by this time. They had been passing through weeks of
sore trial; the shadow of death had seemed to be darkening over them,
and, worse to bear even than the prospect of death, had been the
suffering which had brought it near. Worse for her, for she had drawn
very near to the unseen world--so near that the glory had been visible,
and it had cost her a struggle to be willing to come back again; and
worse for him, too, whose heart had grown sick at the sight of the slow,
wearing pain, growing sharper every day.

But that was past now. Very slowly, but still surely, health was coming
back to the invalid, and the rest from long pain, and the consciousness
of returning strength, were making the bright day and the fair scene
more beautiful to her. As for him, he could only look at her with
thankful joy.

"I never saw this bonny place bonnier than it is to-day, and so sweet,
and quiet, and homelike. We live in a fair world, and, on a day like
this, one is ready to forget that there is sin or trouble in it."

"It is good to see you sitting there," said Mr Snow,