hur! brother! hush! don't sigh and shudder so, don't; it's
all fancy, all mere idle fancy. Do you remember, Arthur, how, on such a
night as this, the moon used to shine down upon the tall trees and green
lawn at home? And when all those merry friends used to visit us, how
their figures would flit in and out so brightly through the long green
avenues, and the shadows falling at their sides--do you not remember,
Arthur?"

"The shadows falling at their side? Yes, Guly, I remember."

"And how, when on such bright nights we sailed upon the Hudson, the
diamond foam broke away from the prow of our little boat, like a peal of
jewelled laughter, if such a thing could be? When we get the old home
back, Arthur, we will find that old boat out, and have it, too--eh,
brother?"

"Dear Guly, yes."

"Everything will be so like its old self, we shall almost think all our
troubles and separation one long dream. When that time comes we can have
no more of earthly happiness to ask for--our old home and our old joys."

"And our old friends, Guly, gliding through the green avenues, with
their shadows under their feet. Our old friends, with their old
shadows--"

Arthur was asleep; soothed to slumber by the gentle words and fond tones
breathed upon his ear, and he lay quietly, with his face calm, and his
cheek upon his hand.

Dreams came to him in the hours of that long night, and he was happy.
Time and distance were annihilated, and he was back upon the shores of
old Hudson, sporting with its waves, and gliding on its waters. There
was the old boat, with the sparkling foam parting from the rushing
prow, and the music of the dipping oars was falling gently on his ear.

Again he was on the green lawn, and the moon was looking down upon the
tall trees, and the soft green grass which lay before the broad door of
the olden home. There were the gayly-robed figures, flitting in and out
along the shaded avenues, their shadows falling by them always, and he
was in their midst--a child, merry-hearted, but fretted and proud--toyed
with by this one, caressed by that, and the favorite of all, commanding
but to be obeyed, frowning but to be more attended, angered but to be
coaxed to good-nature, first in his parents' hearts, and high in the
proffered love of every guest, reigning, like a boy-king, over all he
surveyed.

Then his dream for a moment grew clouded, and a tiny form, with snowy
robes and gentle blue eyes, rose up before him, and took h