treat
during the hot months of the summer.

The occupation which this new establishment afforded his family; the
scope which its improvement gave to their taste; and the charms that
intrinsically belonged to it, by degrees communicated to his household
an absorbing interest in its embellishment. His wife cherished this
enterprise with a peculiar ardor. The plans of improvement were hers;
the garden, the lawns, the groves, the walks--all the little appendages
which an assiduous taste might invent, or a comfort-seeking fancy might
imagine necessary, were taken under her charge; and one beauty quickly
following upon another, from day to day, evinced the dominion which a
refined art may exercise with advantage over nature. It was a quiet,
calm, and happy spot, where many conveniences were congregated together,
and where, for a portion of every succeeding year, this little family
nestled, as it were, in the enjoyment of voluptuous ease. From this
idea, and especially as it was allied with some of the tenderest
associations connected with the infancy of Mildred, it was called by the
fanciful and kindly name of "The Dove Cote."

The education of Mildred and Henry became a delightful household care.
Tutors were supplied, and the parents gave themselves up to the task of
supervision with a fond industry. They now removed earlier to the Dove
Cote with every returning spring, and remained there later in the
autumn. The neighborhood furnished an intelligent and hospitable
society; and the great western wilderness smiled with the contentment of
a refined and polished civilization, which no after day in the history
of this empire has yet surpassed--perhaps, not equalled. It is not to be
wondered at, that a mind so framed as Lindsay's, and a family so
devoted, should find an exquisite enjoyment in such a spot.

Whilst this epoch of happiness was in progression, the political heaven
began to be darkened with clouds. The troubles came on with harsh
portents; war rumbled in the distance, and, at length, broke out in
thunder. Mildred had, in the meantime, grown up to the verge of
womanhood,--a fair, ruddy, light-haired beauty, of exceeding graceful
proportions, and full of the most interesting impulses. Henry trod
closely upon her heels, and was now shooting through the rapid stages of
boyhood. Both had entwined themselves around their parents' affections,
like fibres that conveyed to them their chief nourishment; and the
children were