s a bliss beyond all that the minstrel has told,
When two, that are linked in one heavenly tie,
With heart never changing, and brow never cold,
Love on through all ills, and love on till they die!"

MOORE.

"Come, Florence, put on your bonnet; we land in a few moments," said
Mr. Stewart, entering the splendidly furnished saloon of a Mississippi
steamer, where she sat, book in hand. Quietly the young wife, for such
she now was, complied with his request, and taking her husband's arm,
they advanced to the bow of the boat. It was a bright, sunny morning
in early May, and the balmy breath of the opening summer wafted
gladness to many a weary, aching heart. The margin of the river was
fringed with willow, poplar, cotton-wood, and cypress, the delicate
fresh green foliage contrasting beautifully with the deep azure sky,
and the dark whirling waters of the turbid stream. It was such a day
as all of us may have known, when nature wore the garb of perfect
beauty, and the soothing influence is felt and acknowledged
gratefully--joyfully acknowledged by every one accustomed from
childhood duly to appreciate, admire, and love the fair and numberless
works of God, who,

--"Not content
With every food of life to nourish man.
Makes all nature beauty to his eye
And music to his ear."

Florence was gazing intently, as each object receded from her view.
They turned an angle in the stream, and drew near a landing, with
only a solitary warehouse visible. She started, and her clasped hands,
resting on her husband's arm, pressed heavily. He looked down into the
flushed face, and said with a smile:

"Well, Florence, what is it? Why do you tremble so?"

"Mr. Stewart, I cannot be mistaken: this is my father's old landing!
Why do you look so strangely? Oh! if you knew what painful memories
crowd upon my mind, you could not smile so calmly!" and her voice
faltered.

Laying his hand tenderly on hers, he replied:

"You once asked me whereabouts on the river my plantation was
situated. I evaded your question. You are aware that I inherited it
from a bachelor uncle. He purchased it from your father, and to your
old home, my dear Florence, we have come at last. It is yours again,
and I should have told you long ago, but feared you might be impatient
of the journey; and then it is pleasant to surprise you."

Ere Florence could speak the mingled emotions of her heart, the boat
stopped, and the jangling bells