" "You don't say so! How many has he now?" "Five. It makes
him awfully cross." "I dare say it does this hot weather. Well, good-bye!
Don't forget to come down." "No, I won't. Don't you forget to come up.
Goodbye!" And they separate.
* * * * *
THE WEDDING FEE.
One morning, fifty years ago,--
When apple trees were white with snow
Of fragrant blossoms, and the air
Was spell-bound with the perfume rare--
Upon a farm horse, large and lean,
And lazy with its double load,
A sun-browned youth, and maid were seen
Jogging along the winding road.
Blue were the arches of the skies;
But bluer were that maiden's eyes.
The dew-drops on the grass were bright;
But brighter was the loving light
That sparkled 'neath the long-fringed lid,
Where those bright eyes of blue were hid;
Adown the shoulders brown and bare
Rolled the soft waves of golden hair,
Where, almost strangled with the spray,
The sun, a willing sufferer lay.
It was the fairest sight, I ween,
That the young man had ever seen;
And with his features all aglow,
The happy fellow told her so!
And she without the least surprise
Looked on him with those heavenly eyes;
Saw underneath that shade of tan
The handsome features of a man;
And with a joy but rarely known
She drew that dear face to her own,
And by her bridal bonnet hid--
I shall not tell you what she did!
So, on they ride until among
The new-born leaves with dew-drops hung,
The parsonage, arrayed in white,
Peers out,--a more than welcome sight.
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