

night she touches the stars with a softer 

 radiance, and breathes upon her roses so 

 that they are eager for the dawn, that 

 they may lay their hearts open to her 

 gaze; the forests take on more and more 

 the lavish mood of the summer, until 

 they have buried their great trunks in 

 perpetual shade. The splendid pageant 

 moves on, gathering its votaries as it 

 passes from one marvellous change to an- 

 other ; and yet the Mistress of the Revels is 

 nowhere visible. The crowds press from 

 point to point, peering into the depths of 

 the woods and watching stealthily where the 

 torrent breaks from its dungeon in the hills, 

 and leaps, mad with joy, in the new-found 

 liberty of light and motion ; but not a 

 flutter of her garment betrays to the keen- 

 est eye the Presence which is the soul of all 

 this visible, moving scene. 



And now there is a subtle change in the 

 air ; premonitions of death begin to thrust 

 themselves in the midst of the revelry; 

 there is a brief hush, a sudden glow of 

 splendour, and lo ! the pageant is seemingly 

 17 



