gs to music of a more pathetic
character?" inquired I, addressing Miss Saville.

"You judge from my having praised the one we have just heard, I
suppose?"

"Yes, and from the lively style of your conversation; I have been
envying your high spirits all the evening."

"Indeed!" was the reply; "and why should you envy them?"

"Are they not an indication of happiness, and is not that an enviable
possession?" returned I.

"Yes, indeed!" she replied in a low voice, but with such passionate
earnestness as quite to startle me. "Is 262~~ laughing, then, such an
infallible indication of happiness?" she continued.

"One usually supposes so," replied I.

To this she made no answer, unless a sigh can be called one, and,
turning away, began looking over the pages of a music-book.

"Is there nothing you can recollect to sing, my dear?" asked Mrs.
Coleman.

She paused for a moment as if in thought, ere she replied:--

"There is an old air, which I think I could remember; but I do not know
whether you will like it. The words," she added, glancing towards me,
"refer to the subject on which we have just been speaking."

She then seated herself at the instrument, and, after striking a few
simple chords, sang, in a sweet, rich soprano, the following stanzas;--

I

"Behold, how brightly seeming
All nature shows:
In golden sunlight gleaming,
Blushes the rose.
How very happy things must be
That are so bright and fair to see!
Ah, no! in that sweet flower,
A worm there lies;
And lo! within the hour,
It fades--it dies.

II

"Behold, young Beauty's glances
Around she flings;
While as she lightly dances,
Her soft laugh rings:
How very happy they must be,
Who are as young and gay as she!
'Tis not when smiles are brightest,
So old tales say,
The bosom's lord sits lightest--
Ah! well-a-day!

III

"Beneath the greenwood's cover
The maiden steals,
And, as she meets her lover,
Her blush reveals
How very happy all must be
Who love with trustful constancy.
By cruel fortune parted,
She learns too late,
How some die broken-hearted--
Ah! hapless fate!"

~263~~ The air to which these words were set w