RECREATION. 



253 



6.lVW.Ul» 



A CAMP FIRE FANTASIE. 



by a cataract of musical mimicries — the 

 song of the mocking-bird. Then the 

 sun rose in a torrent of blazing, scinti- 

 lating melody. The motive changed and 

 I recognized the air which Kate had 

 sung in the forenoon when she doffed 

 her cap to "Bob White." The accom- 

 paniment to this air was a wonderful 

 piece of harmony, rendered with almost 

 matchless skill. The motive again 

 changed and I heard the drowsy hum of 

 insects at noon, on a hot summer's day. 

 I saw the cattle standing in the shade of 

 the trees brushing the flies from their 

 flanks with t heir busy tails. The single 

 resonant note of a bill-bird rang out 

 clear and distinct, and from afar the 

 faint sound of a dinner horn came to my 

 ears like a pleasing echo. 



Again the motive changed, and I heard 

 the song of the katydid and the chirp 

 of the cricket. The beseeching wail of 

 the whip-poor-will then caught my 

 listening ear and held it with exigent 

 insistence. Then I heard the shrill 

 murmur of the screech-owl, and knew 



that night had fallen. The fantasie 

 closed with a repetition of the first mo- 

 tive, and left me completely dumb- 

 founded at the marvellous skill of my 

 little niece. 



" Kate, do you mean to say you com- 

 posed that yourself?" 



" I do, uncle. I commenced it last 

 winter while at the conservatory, but 

 not one of the professors, either in New 

 York or Boston, has ever seen or heard 

 a bar of it. I finished it last week, and 

 you are the only person who has ever 

 heard it. What do you think I call it ?" 



"I don't know what you call it, but / 

 call it an exquisite fantasie of morning, 

 noon and night." 



" My ! You must either be a mind- 

 reader or my descriptive music must be 

 good, for 'Morning, Noon and Night ' 

 is the name I have given it." 



" Put up your violin. After such a 

 treat as that I desire no more for the 

 present. Jam satis ! " 



" You're sated with jam, eh ! It is 

 not much of a compliment to call my 



