Evangeline | Page 5

aloft on a
column, a brazen statue of Justice
Stood in the public square,
upholding the scales in its left hand,
And in its right a sword, as an
emblem that justice presided
Over the laws of the land, and the hearts
and homes of the people.
Even the birds had built their nests in the
scales of the balance,
Having no fear of the sword that flashed in the

sunshine above them.
But in the course of time the laws of the land
were corrupted;
Might took the place of right, and the weak were
oppressed, and the mighty
Ruled with an iron rod. Then it chanced in
a nobleman's palace
That a necklace of pearls was lost, and erelong a
suspicion
Fell on an orphan girl who lived as maid in the household.

She, after form of trial condemned to die on the scaffold,
Patiently
met her doom at the foot of the statue of Justice.
As to her Father in
heaven her innocent spirit ascended,
Lo! o'er the city a tempest rose;
and the bolts of the thunder
Smote the statue of bronze, and hurled in
wrath from its left hand
Down on the pavement below the clattering
scales of the balance,
And in the hollow thereof was found the nest of
a magpie,
Into whose clay-built walls the necklace of pearls was
inwoven."
Silenced, but not convinced, when the story was ended, the
blacksmith
Stood like a man who fain would speak, but findeth no
language;
All his thoughts were congealed into lines on his face, as
the vapors
Freeze in fantastic shapes on the window-panes in the
winter.
Then Evangeline lighted the brazen lamp on the table,
Filled, till it
overflowed, the pewter tankard with home-brewed
Nut-brown ale,
that was famed for its strength in the village of Grand-Pre;
While
from his pocket the notary drew his papers and inkhorn,
Wrote with a
steady hand the date and the age of the parties,
Naming the dower of
the bride in flocks of sheep and in cattle.
Orderly all things proceeded,
and duly and well were completed,
And the great seal of the law was
set like a sun on the margin.
Then from his leathern pouch the farmer
threw on the table
Three times the old man's fee in solid pieces of
silver;
And the notary rising, and blessing the bride and the
bridegroom,
Lifted aloft the tankard of ale and drank to their welfare.

Wiping the foam from his lip, he solemnly bowed and departed,

While in silence the others sat and mused by the fireside,
Till
Evangeline brought the draught-board out of its corner.
Soon was the
game begun. In friendly contention the old men
Laughed at each

lucky hit, or unsuccessful manoeuver,
Laughed when a man was
crowned, or a breach was made in the king-row.
Meanwhile apart, in
the twilight gloom of a window's embrasure,
Sat the lovers, and
whispered together, beholding the moon rise
Over the pallid sea and
the silvery mist of the meadows.
Silently one by one, in the infinite
meadows of heaven,
Blossomed the lovely stars, the forget-me-nots
of the angels.
Thus passed the evening away. Anon the bell from the belfry
Rang
out the hour of nine, the village curfew, and straightway
Rose the
guests and departed; and silence reigned in the household.
Many a
farewell word and sweet good night on the door-step
Lingered long in
Evangeline's heart, and filled it with gladness.
Carefully then were
covered the embers that glowed on the hearth-stone;
And on the
oaken stairs resounded the tread of the farmer.
Soon with a soundless
step the foot of Evangeline followed.
Up the staircase moved a
luminous space in the darkness,
Lighted less by the lamp than the
shining face of the maiden.
Silent she passed the hall, and entered the
door of her chamber.
Simple that chamber was, with its curtains of
white, and its clothes-press
Ample and high, on whose spacious
shelves were carefully folded
Linen and woollen stuffs, by the hand
of Evangeline woven.
This was the precious dower she would bring
to her husband in marriage,
Better than flocks and herds, being proofs
of her skill as a housewife.
Soon she extinguished her lamp, for the
mellow and radiant moonlight
Streamed through the windows, and
lighted the room, till the heart of the maiden
Swelled and obeyed its
power, like the tremulous tides of the ocean.
Ah! she was fair,
exceeding fair to behold, as she stood with
Naked snow-white feet on
the gleaming floor of her chamber!
Little she dreamed that below,
among the trees of the orchard,
Waited her lover and watched for the
gleam of her lamp and her shadow.
Yet were her thoughts of him, and
at times a feeling of sadness
Passed o'er her soul, as the sailing shade
of clouds in the moonlight
Flitted across the floor and darkened the

room for a moment.
And, as she gazed from the window, she saw
serenely the moon pass
Forth from the folds of a cloud, and one star
follow her footsteps,
As out of Abraham's tent young Ishmael
wandered with Hagar!
IV.
PLEASANTLY rose next morn the sun on the village of Grand-Pre.

Pleasantly gleamed in the soft,