WOULD 1 WERE A BOY AGAIN. 301 



ant. That, to my thinking, would be a better arrangement 

 than to grow old, even if wa^ive on until we stumble at last 

 from mere infirmity into the grave, looking forward in dis- 

 content one half of our lives, and backward in equal discon- 

 tent the other." 



" You remind me," said Spalding, " of a little incident, 

 simple in itself, but which, at the time, made a deep impres- 

 sion upon my mind, and which occurred but a few weeks 

 ago. Returning from my usual walk, one morning, my way 

 lay through the Capitol Park. The trees, covered with their 

 young and fresh foliage, intertwined their arms lovingly 

 above the gravelled walks, forming a beautiful arch above, 

 through which *the sun could scarcely look even in the splen- 

 dor of his noon. The birds sang merrily among the branches, 

 and the odor of the leaves and grass as the dews exhaled, 

 gave a freshness almost of the forest to the morning air. 

 On the walk before me were two beautiful children, a boy 

 of six and a little girl of four. They were merry and happy 

 as the birds were, and with an arm of each around the waist 

 of the other, they went hopping and skipping up and down 

 the walks, stopping now and then to waltz, to swing round 

 and round, and then darting away again with their hop and 

 skip, too full of hilarity, too instinct with vitality, to be for a 

 moment still. The flush of health was on their cheeks, and 

 the warm light of affection in their eyes. They were confid- 

 ing, affectionate, loving little children, and my heart warmed 

 towards them, as I saw them waltzing and dancing and skip- 

 ping about under the green foliage of the trees. 



