die, for I am here;' and the foolish
boy--for it was Arthur come back and stolen upon me to surprise me--put
his dear strong arms about me, and I was ready to faint, and cried a
little on his shoulder, and he kissed me, and we went in to papa and
talked it all over; and he told me about his finishing his studies and
hurrying home, and all about the blond, a cousin of his who was out in
Leipsic with her mother studying music, and they'd made a home for him,
and said I should know them and they should know me; and it was all
lovely. And the result of it all is, here we are, and we love birds, and
we love each other. And do you wonder at it? And here's Arthur, coming
back from his letters. And, and--Come and kiss me, Arthur."

And so the little lady finished with a kiss, as she had begun, and the
parrot moved uneasily on his perch at being disturbed with conversation
at so late an hour, and the Java sparrows twittered a little; and I rose
to go, only asking, "And the baron?"

"Oh! he's married since--such a lovely wife!--and I dare say is as
grateful to the bird as Arthur and I. You see, he was only
infatuated--Arthur and I were in love."

"Good-night," from me.

"Good-night, good-night," from them; and I heard another kiss as I went
down the walk.

WM. M.F. ROUND.

THE MOCKING-BIRD.

A golden pallor of voluptuous light
Filled the warm Southern night:
The moon, clear orbed, above the sylvan scene
Moved like a stately queen.
So rife with conscious beauty all the while,
What could she do but smile
At her own perfect loveliness below,
Glassed in the tranquil flow
Of crystal fountains and unruffled streams?
Half lost in waking dreams,
As down the loneliest forest-dell I strayed,
Lo! from a neighboring glade,
Flashed through the drifts of moonshine, swiftly came
A fairy shape of flame.
It rose in dazzling spirals overhead,
Whence, to wild sweetness wed,
Poured marvellous melodies, silvery trill on trill:
The very leaves grew still
On the charmed trees to hearken; while for me,
Heart-thrilled to ecstasy,
I followed--followed the bright shape that flew,
Still circling up the blue,
Till as a fountain that has reached its height
Falls back, in sprays of light
Slowly dissolved, so that enrapturing lay
Divinely melts away
Through tremulous spaces to