mmunication of any value. It is a wild and romantic spot, and the only
thing I do not like about it is every house has two or three tombstones
close by."

He seemed in a surprisingly cheerful mood, and described his visit and
the friends he had met in glowing words. One incident of his visit,
however, he withheld, and for a purpose. The little, half-jesting remark
Liddy had made a month previous on Blue Hill--a remark merely expressive
of her pride--still lingered in his mind, and he was resolved to test
that pride in his own peculiar way.

A short distance from her house and near the brook was a rustic seat
beneath the maple. Many hours she had passed there with him, and many
more alone with only sad thoughts for company, when the brook's music
seemed a voice of sympathy. Even when a child she had learned to love
this spot, and the low, sweet murmur of the stream. Early that evening,
when the full moon had just appeared over Blue Hill, they intuitively
sought this familiar place. Perhaps the joy in their hearts added a new
charm, for the ripples in the brook appeared like so many laughing water
sprites dancing there in the silvery light. For a few moments they
silently yielded to the magic witchery of the time and place, and then
she could contain herself no longer. She had noticed his unusual
elation--even more than could be ascribed to his gladness at being once
more beside her, and, grown accustomed to his ways, knew there was a
surprise in store.

"Well, Charlie," she said at last, with a bright smile, "you need not
wait to take me up to Blue Hill this time to tell your story. Tell it
now. You have some good news, for I can see it in your face. What is
it?"

He looked at her a moment in silence, and then answered:

"Yes, I have a story to tell you, and one that will more than surprise
you, but first I have a question to ask. Do you remember the promise you
made me a month ago?"

The thought of that tender pledge and his now evident intention to ask
its fulfillment brought the color to her face, but she bravely answered:
"I have never made a promise and failed to keep it. I shall not begin
now."

Then, as the question he asked and the answer he received were heard
only by the elfin sprites dancing in the brook beside them, so we will
leave it to those fairies to tell if they choose. Suffice it to say it
was such as filled his heart so full of happiness it could no longer
hold a secret, and there, where the