omtits, and given them their liberty;
and that, in the following year, the couple returned with their brood,
who were easily taught to take their food from the hands of their
charming protectress. Other birds soon imitated their example, and thus
the beautiful solitary came to represent, undesignedly, one of the most
charming creations of Georges Sand, the bird-charmer, in her novel of
'Teverino.'"

In one of her walks with Madame de Hell, the baroness conducted her new
friend to the scene of the tragic drama which had broken up her life.
The house, entirely abandoned by the Baron, was inhabited only by a
Tartar, its guardian--a man of wild and gloomy aspect, whom the sight of
his mistress seemed to stupefy. While he was opening the doors and
windows, which had been kept closed since the fatal catastrophe, a
wretched half-starved looking dog, shivering in spite of the sunshine,
crawled out of a corner, the wonderful instinct of these animals having
made him conscious of the presence of his mistress. The latter,
overwhelmed with emotion, burst into tears: "Poor Salghir! poor
Salghir!" she cried, and was unable to utter another word.

When she had recovered herself, she turned to Madame de Hell, and bade
her observe how the seal of sorrow and forgetfulness was set upon
everything. Formerly the very stones of the court had breathed of life,
and sunshine, and youth; formerly that poor dog had been bright and
well-favoured, and as happy as are all things that are loved. "But now,"
she exclaimed, "look at these ruins, these crawling mosses; yonder
shattered wall, the grass which has obliterated the traces of my
footsteps, and agree with me that a kind of curse weighs upon the spot.
One feels, one divines that life has been arrested here by one of those
fatal crises which involve everything in ruin. Alas, this house is a
striking proof of it! It had a youth, a freshness, a coquettishness of
its own, when I was young, and fair, and a coquette; now it is gloomy,
dank, degraded...."

"Because you are old and ugly?" said Madame de Hell, smiling, "is not
that the logical consequence of your reasoning! But, you see, the first
looking-glass would flatly contradict it. Come, in spite of the somewhat
greenish hue of our surroundings, look at that soft, gentle, and still
youthful countenance, those brilliant eyes, that flowing hair, and tell
me if it be all in harmony with the unattractive aspect of the scene
before you."

"Oh, und