KIDD'S OWN JOURNAL. 



307 



It was evening, and the married pair stood 

 together on as lovely a spot as this, or any 

 other country can exhibit. The sun had made 

 a u golden set," the western sky was yet 

 flushed with his parting smile — 



The sylvan slopes with corn-clad fields, 

 Were hung, as if with golden shields, 



Bright trophies of the sun ! 

 Like a fair sister of the sky, 

 Unruffled did the blue lake lie, 



The mountains looking on : 



whilst rock, wood, hamlet, and distant hill, 

 were clothed in that ethereal haze, that 

 "apparel of celestial light," which makes 

 the rugged appear beautiful, and the beauti- 

 ful divine. 



" Delightful evening," said the bridegroom, 

 at the same moment contradicting his asser- 

 tion with a yawn. 



" Pretty the water looks," replied the 

 bride, in a languid tone. 



" Very ! " replied the gentleman, as he 

 picked up a pebble, and made what the 

 schoolboys call a duck-and-a-drake on its 

 surface. 



" What are we to do to-morrow, love ? " 

 inquired the lady, after a considerable inter- 

 val of silence. 



" Don't know, indeed, my dear. I suppose 



B and Sophia have planned an excursion 



somewhere : " and again the bridegroom 

 closed his silence with a yawn. 



" I think we must have seen everything, 

 at least I feel as if we had," observed his 

 companion ; " don't you think, love, a set 

 of colored views gives one just as good 

 an idea of these places as coming to see 

 them ? " 



" Exactly ; but then there's the say-so. I 

 wish I had brought my flute and fishing 



tackle with me ; B is not half such good 



company as I expected — " 



" And Sophia," interrupted the bride, " is 

 most exceedingly inattentive. I wish we 

 had gone to Cheltenham ; what are we to do 

 if there comes another wet day ? " 



" Why, you know, my dear," said her 

 husband, " I told you what would happen. 

 These places are only pleasant when you 

 have a large party with you." 



" Indeed, George, you are quite right ; 

 and I wish with all my heart we were at 

 home." 



11 So do T, Mary Anne, for the races are 

 the week after next, and I see my friend 



L has entered Honeymoon for the 



gold cup." 



" And the race ball ! " ejaculated the lady, 

 in a tone of dismay; "what have we been 

 thinking of to forget them ? Do, love, let us 

 go home ; I am sure we have seen everything 

 here." 



Well, my dear," replied the gentleman 

 with vivacity, " I'm sure you have my con- 



sent, and I'll take you down to Cheltenham 

 for a week or two, when our bustle is over 

 at home ; I should like that trip myself." 



The bride was in ecstacies. " And will 

 you, really? Oh, I am quite happy. I 

 will write to my mother to night, and we will 

 leave this stupid place to-morrow ; dear, 

 good, kind, indulgent creature! but you won't 

 alter your mind, George," said she, suddenly 

 stopping in her praises, " you really will 

 take me to Cheltenham — and stylishly ? Oh, 

 we shall be so happy; let us go and tell our 

 companions." 



Whilst this conjugal dialogue took place 

 without doors, the bride's-maid, and her 

 brother in office, stationed at the inn window, 

 which commanded a view of the same scene, 

 held a conference in a very different strain. 

 We shall merely give its close ; informing the 

 reader that the parts we omit related to 

 taste, friendship, Moore's Melodies, happi- 

 ness, quadrilles, and the last new novel. 



" Who could ever tire of this scenery ? " 

 exclaimed the young lady, with enthusiasm. 



" Not in such society," replied her com- 

 panion ; " I shall never have such another 

 fortnight." 



" Impossible ! we can never have been out 

 a whole fortnight; it has not appeared a 

 week." 



" Then you are not tired ? " 



" Tired ! I could live here for ever. Look 

 at that darling cottage, with its honey-suckle 

 porch." 



" Oh, that for thee some home like that may 

 smile ! " 



was the gallant captain's gallant reply. 



" You have not quoted the line cor- 

 rectly," said Miss Sophia, with delightful 

 simplicity. 



" Well, then, take the original reading," 

 replied the captain ; and he repeated, in a 

 most subduing manner — 



" that for me some home like that may smile ! " 



With a quick sense of propriety, the 

 young lady immediately changed the con- 

 versation ; and directed her companion's at- 

 tention to the blueness of the sky, the 

 shadows upon the mountains, and the little 

 boats upon the water. 



They were interrupted, to receive the in- 

 formation with which the reader is already 

 acquainted. The change of plans did not, as 

 he will readily imagine, meet with their ap- 

 proval ; and it was with very different feel- 

 ings that the bride and bride's-maid sat down 

 to write their respective letters ; the former 

 to her mother, the latter to a most intimate 

 friend. We subjoin extracts from both. 



" Indeed, my dear mother, if I were to be mar 

 ried a hundred times, I would neither come to 

 this country, nor travel with a bride's-maid. Both 



