Then from his leathern pouch the farmer threw on the table

Three times the old man's fee in solid pieces of

silver;

340 And the notary rising, and blessing the bride and the bridegroom,

Lifted aloft the tankard of ale and drank to their

welfare.

Wiping the foam from his lip, he solemnly bowed and departed,

While in silence the others sat and mused by the fireside,

Till Evangeline brought the draught-board out of its corner.

345 Soon was the game begun. In friendly contention the old men

Laughed at each lucky hit, or unsuccessful ma

nœuvre,

Laughed when a man was crowned, or a breach was made in the king-row.

Meanwhile apart, in the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure,

Sat the lovers and whispered together, beholding

350 Over the pallid sea and the silvery mist of the

meadows.

Silently one by one, in the infinite meadows of

heaven,

Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots of the angels.

Thus was the evening passed. Anon the bell from the belfry

344. The word draughts is derived from the circumstance of drawing the men from one square to another.

Rang out the hour of nine, the village curfew, and

straightway

355 Rose the guests and departed; and silence reigned in the household.

Many a farewell word and sweet good-night on the door-step

Lingered long in Evangeline's heart, and filled it with gladness.

Carefully then were covered the embers that glowed on the hearth-stone,

And on the oaken stairs resounded the tread of the farmer.

360 Soon with a soundless step the foot of Evangeline followed.

Up the staircase moved a luminous space in the

darkness,

Lighted less by the lamp than the shining face of the maiden.

Silent she passed through the hall, and entered the door of her chamber.

Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of white, and its clothes-press

365 Ample and high, on whose spacious shelves were carefully folded

Linen and woollen stuffs, by the hand of Evange

line woven.

354. Curfew is a corruption of couvre-feu, or cover fire. In the Middle Ages, when police patrol at night was almost unknown, it was attempted to lessen the chances of crime by making it an offence against the laws to be found in the streets in the night, and the curfew bell was tolled, at various hours, according to the custom of the place, from seven to nine o'clock in the evening. It warned honest people to lock their doors, cover their fires, and go to bed. The custom still lingers in many places, even in America, of ringing a bell at nine o'clock in the evening.

This was the precious dower she would bring to her husband in marriage,

Better than flocks and herds, being proofs of her skill as a housewife.

Soon she extinguished her lamp, for the mellow and radiant moonlight

370 Streamed through the windows, and lighted the till the heart of the maiden

room,

Swelled and obeyed its power, like the tremulous tides of the ocean.

Ah! she was fair, exceeding fair to behold, as she stood with

Naked snow-white feet on the gleaming floor of her chamber!

Little she dreamed that below, among the trees of the orchard,

375 Waited her lover and watched for the gleam of her lamp and her shadow.

Yet were her thoughts of him, and at times a feeling of sadness

Passed o'er her soul, as the sailing shade of clouds in the moonlight

Flitted across the floor and darkened the room for

a moment.

And, as she gazed from the window, she saw serenely the moon pass

380 Forth from the folds of a cloud, and one star follow her footsteps,

As out of Abraham's tent young Ishmael wandered

with Hagar!

IV.

Pleasantly rose next morn the sun on the vil lage of Grand-Pré,

Pleasantly gleamed in the soft, sweet air the Basin of Minas,

Where the ships, with their wavering shadows, were riding at anchor.

385 Life had long been astir in the village, and clamorous labor

Knocked with its hundred hands at the golden

gates of the morning.

Now from the country around, from the farms and neighboring hamlets,

Came in their holiday dresses the blithe Acadian

peasants.

Many a glad good-morrow and jocund laugh from the young folk

390 Made the bright air brighter, as up from the numerous meadows,

Where no path could be seen but the track of wheels in the greensward,

Group after group appeared, and joined, or passed on the highway.

Long ere noon, in the village all sounds of labor were silenced.

Thronged were the streets with people; and noisy groups at the house-doors

395 Sat in the cheerful sun, and rejoiced and gossiped together.

Every house was an inn, where all were welcomed and feasted;

396. "Real misery was wholly unknown, and benevolence anticipated the demands of poverty. Every misfortune was relieved as it were before it could be felt, without ostentation on the one hand, and without meanness on the other. It was, in short, a society of brethren, every individual of which was equally ready to give and to receive what he thought the common right of mankind." From the Abbé Raynal's account of the Acadians. The Abbé Guillaume Thomas Francis Raynal was a French writer (1711-1796) who published A Philosophical History of the Settlements and Trade of the Europeans in the

For with this simple people, who lived like brothers together,

All things were held in common, and what one had was another's.

Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more abundant:

400 For Evangeline stood among the guests of her

father;

Bright was her face with smiles, and words of welcome and gladness

Fell from her beautiful lips, and blessed the cup as she gave it.

Under the open sky, in the odorous air of the

orchard,

Stript of its golden fruit, was spread the feast of

betrothal.

405 There in the shade of the porch were the priest and the notary seated;

There good Benedict sat, and sturdy Basil the blacksmith.

Not far withdrawn from these, by the cider-press and the beehives,

Michael the fiddler was placed, with the gayest of hearts and of waistcoats.

Shadow and light from the leaves alternately played on his snow-white

410 Hair, as it waved in the wind; and the jolly face of the fiddler

Glowed like a living coal when the ashes are blown

from the embers.

East and West Indies in which he included also some account of Canada and Nova Scotia. His picture of life among the Acadians, somewhat highly colored, is the source from which after writers have drawn their knowledge of Acadian manners.