men at length look round, seem uneasy at not finding him, and
pause as if to await his coming. He comes not. Anxious glances are
cast around, and steps are redoubled. My eyes aid in searching through
the garden; he comes not, he is nowhere to be seen.

"Suddenly I see a plash in the canal, and see a gondola moving from the
shore. It is he, and I scarcely can refrain from calling to him. Now
the whole thing is clear--it was a parting.

"She appears to have a presentiment of what has happened. With a speed
that her companion cannot use she hastens to the shore. Too late!
Quick as the arrow in its flight the gondola bounds forward, and soon
nothing is visible but a white handkerchief fluttering in the air from
afar. Soon after this I saw the fair incognita and her companion cross
the water.

"When I awoke from a short sleep I could not help smiling at my
delusion. My fancy had incorporated these events in my dreams until
truth itself seemed a dream. A maiden, fair as an houri, wandering
beneath my windows at break of day with her lover--and a lover who did
not know how to make a better use of such an hour. Surely these
supplied materials for the composition of a picture which might well
occupy the fancy of a dreamer! But the dream had been too lovely for me
not to desire its renewal again and again; nay, even the garden had
become more charming in my sight since my imagination had peopled it
with such attractive forms. Several cheerless days that succeeded this
eventful morning drove me from the window, but the first fine evening
involuntarily drew me back to my post of observation. Judge of my
surprise when after a short search I caught sight of the white dress of
my incognita! Yes, it was she herself. I had not dreamed!

"Her former companion was with her, and led by the hand a little boy;
but the fair girl herself walked apart, and seemed absorbed in thought.
All spots were visited that had been rendered memorable by the presence
of her friend. She paused for a long time before the basin, and her
fixed gaze seemed to seek on its crystal mirror the reflection of one
beloved form.

"Although her noble beauty had attracted me when I first saw her the
impression produced was even stronger on this occasion, although perhaps
at the same time more conducive to gentler emotions. I had now ample
opportunity of considering this divine form; the surprise of the first
impression gradually gave place to softer feelings. The glo