194 A BED OF BOUGHS. 



which, the young woman quickly took occasion to dis- 

 claim. 



" It has not opened its dear eyes before since its 

 mother left. Come to aunty," and she put out her 

 hands. 



The daughter filled my pail and the mother re- 

 plenished our stock of bread. They asked me to sit 

 and cool myself, and seemed glad of a stranger to 

 talk with. They had come from an adjoining county 

 five years before, and had carved their little clearing 

 out of the solid woods. 



" The men folks," the mother said, " came on 

 ahead and built the house right among the big trees," 

 pointing to the stumps near the door. 



One no sooner sets out with his pack upon his 

 back to tramp through the land, than all objects and 

 persons by the way have a new and curious interest 

 to him. The tone of his entire being is not a little 

 elevated, and all his perceptions and susceptibilities 

 quickened. I feel that some such statement is nec- 

 essary to justify the interest that I felt in this back- 

 woods maiden. A slightly pale face it was, strong 

 and well arched, with a tender, wistful expression 

 not easy to forget. 



I had surely seen that face many times before in 

 towns and cities, and in other lands, but I hardly ex- 

 pected to meet it here amid the stumps. What were 

 the agencies that had given it its fine lines and its 

 gracious intelligence amid these simple, primitive 

 scenes ? What did my heroine read, or think ? or 



