quiet monotony
of a country town."

"I found something here not to be found in all country towns," said
Pownal. "Besides, the noise and confusion of a large place never were
agreeable to me, and when I return to them they lie like a weight upon
my spirits. Instead of a city I ought to have been born in a boundless
forest."

"You know I have said, I thought there was a wildness about you,"
replied Anne, laughing.

"Do you not consider the wild animal tamed?"

"Not entirely. It belongs to a species almost irreclaimable."

"He will never be tamed a second time."

"Then he must not be suffered to escape."

The words flew from the lips of the gay impulsive girl before she was
aware. The eloquent blood crimsoned her cheeks, and clapping both her
hands upon her face to conceal the blushes, she burst into a laugh as
musical as the song of the canary bird. Pownal's eyes sparkled with
delight, but before he could utter a word, she had sprung upon her
feet.

"It is too bad," she cried, "to compare you to a wild animal. Forgive
and forget my impertinence. I have been reading a novel," and as, she
said so she took a book from the table, "by an American author, which
interests me greatly. Have you seen it?"

Pownal took the book into his hands. It was one of Charles Brockden
Brown's.

"I read it some years ago," he said; "and I remember it made a great
impression upon me at the time. It appears to me to be written with
wonderful power of enchaining the attention. I could not lay it down
until it was finished."

"Exactly as I was affected," said Anne.

"Yet I wonder that one so lively and merry as Miss Bernard should
be pleased with such a book. The subjects of Brown's novels are all
gloomy. His imagination seems at home only in sombre scenes. His is
the fascination of horror."

"I wonder at it myself. But it shows the ability of the writer, in
being able to affect as thoughtless a person as I am."

"Not thoughtless. No one would say that of you but yourself. It is,
perhaps, because of your gaiety--on account of the contrast. The
sunshine loves to light up dark places."

"Very prettily expressed. Really, if you go on improving, we must
have you appointed valentine-manufacturer-general for the town of
Hillsdale."

"I suspect the valentines would all be addressed to one person."

"Then I shall oppose your appointment. But let that pass for the
present. You were telling me why I liked Brown's novels."

"I am no