appearing like liquid silver, that each instant changed its position and
surface exposed to the light.

Such a moment--such a scene, were by far too well calculated to cause
the most solemn and serious emotions of the mind, and he must have been
but at best insensible, who could wander over meadow and through grove,
and yet remain untouched by the scene of poetry and romance in which he
breathed and moved.

At such a time, and in such a place, the world is alive with all the
finer essences of mysterious life. 'Tis at such an hour that the spirits
quit their secret abodes, and visit the earth, and whirl round the
enchanted trees.

'Tis now the spirits of earth and air dance their giddy flight from
flower to flower. 'Tis now they collect and exchange their greetings;
the wood is filled with them, the meadows teem with them, the hedges at
the river side have them hidden among the deep green leaves and blades.

But what is that yonder, on the stones, partially out of the water--what
can it be? The more it is looked at, the more it resembles the human
form--and yet it is still and motionless on the hard stones--and yet it
is a human form. The legs are lying in the water, the arms appear to be
partially in and partially out, they seem moved by the stream now and
then, but very gently--so slightly, indeed, that it might well be
questioned if it moved at all.

The moon's rays had not yet reached it; the bank on the opposite side of
the stream was high, and some tall trees rose up and obscured the moon.
But she was rising higher and higher each moment, and, finally, when it
has reached the tops of those trees, then the rays will reach the middle
of the river, and then, by degrees, it will reach the stones in the
river, and, finally, the body that lies there so still and so
mysteriously.

How it came there it would be difficult to say. It appeared as though,
when the waters were high, the body had floated down, and, at the
subsidence of the waters, it had been left upon the stones, and now it
was exposed to view.

It was strange and mysterious, and those who might look upon such a
sight would feel their blood chill, and their body creep, to contemplate
the remains of humanity in such a place, and in such a condition as that
must be in.

A human life had been taken! How? Who could tell? Perhaps accident alone
was the cause of it; perhaps some one had taken a life by violent means,
and thrown the body in the waters to con