Sought in the Western wilds oblivion of self and of sorrow.

Swiftly they glided along, close under the lee of the island,

But by the opposite bank, and behind a screen of palmettos,

So that they saw not the boat, where it lay concealed in the willows,

And undisturbed by the dash of their oars, and unseen, were the sleepers;

Angel of God was there none to awaken the slumbering maiden.

Swiftly they glided away, like the shade of a cloud on the prairie.

After the sound of their oars on the tholes had

died in the distance,

As from a magic trance the sleepers awoke, and

the maiden

Said with a sigh to the friendly priest, —“O Fa

ther Felician!

Something says in my heart that near me Gabriel

wanders.

Is it a foolish dream, an idle and vague super

stition?

Or has an angel passed, and revealed the truth to iny spirit ?"

Then, with a blush, she added, "Alas for my credulous fancy!

Unto ears like thine such words as these have no

meaning."

But made answer the reverend man, and he smiled as he answered,

"Daughter, thy words are not idle; nor are they to me without meaning.

Feeling is deep and still; and the word that floats on the surface

Is as the tossing buoy, that betrays where the anchor is hidden.

Therefore trust to thy heart, and to what the world calls illusions.

Gabriel truly is near thee; for not far away to the southward,

On the banks of the Têche, are the towns of St. Maur and St. Martin.

There the long-wandering bride shall be given again to her bridegroom,

There the long-absent pastor regain his flock and his sheepfold.

Beautiful is the land, with its prairies and forests of fruit-trees;

Under the feet a garden of flowers, and the bluest of heavens

Bending above, and resting its dome on the walls of the forest.

They who dwell there have named it the Eden of Louisiana."

And with these words of cheer they arose and

continued their journey.

Softly the evening came. The sun from the

western horizon

Like a magician extended his golden wand o'er the landscape;

Twinkling vapors arose; and sky and water and

forest

Seemed all on fire at the touch, and melted and mingled together.

Hanging between two skies, a cloud with edges of silver,

Floated the boat, with its dripping oars, on the motionless water.

Filled was Evangeline's heart with inexpressible

sweetness.

Touched by the magic spell, the sacred fountains

of feeling

Glowed with the light of love, as the skies and

waters around her.

Then from a neighbouring thicket the mockingbird, wildest of singers,

Swinging aloft on a willow spray that hung o'er

the water,

Shook from his little throat such floods of de

lirious music,

That the whole air and the woods and the waves seemed silent to listen.

Plaintive at first were the tones and sad; then soaring to madness

Seemed they to follow or guide the revel of frenzied Bacchantes.

Single notes were then heard, in sorrowful, low lamentation;

Till, having gathered them all, he flung them abroad in derision,

As when, after a storm, a gust of wind through

the tree-tops

Shakes down the rattling rain in a crystal shower on the branches.

With such a prelude as this, and hearts that

throbbed with emotion,