“The pleasant showers and genial warmth of spring
greatly altered the aspect of the earth. Men
who before this change seemed to have been hid in
caves dispersed themselves and were employed in various
arts of cultivation. The birds sang in more
cheerful notes, and the leaves began to bud forth
on the trees. Happy, happy earth! Fit habitation
for gods, which, so short a time before, was bleak,
damp, and unwholesome. My spirits were elevated
by the enchanting appearance of nature; the past was
blotted from my memory, the present was tranquil,
and the future gilded by bright rays of hope and anticipations
of joy.”
“I now hasten to the more moving part of my
story. I shall relate events that impressed
me with feelings which, from what I had been, have
made me what I am.
“Spring advanced rapidly; the weather became
fine and the skies cloudless. It surprised me
that what before was desert and gloomy should now
bloom with the most beautiful flowers and verdure.
My senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand
scents of delight and a thousand sights of beauty.
“It was on one of these days, when my cottagers
periodically rested from labour—the old
man played on his guitar, and the children listened
to him—that I observed the countenance of
Felix was melancholy beyond expression; he sighed
frequently, and once his father paused in his music,
and I conjectured by his manner that he inquired the
cause of his son’s sorrow. Felix replied
in a cheerful accent, and the old man was recommencing
his music when someone tapped at the door.
“It was a lady on horseback, accompanied by
a country-man as a guide. The lady was dressed
in a dark suit and covered with a thick black veil.
Agatha asked a question, to which the stranger only
replied by pronouncing, in a sweet accent, the name
of Felix. Her voice was musical but unlike that
of either of my friends. On hearing this word,
Felix came up hastily to the lady, who, when she saw
him, threw up her veil, and I beheld a countenance
of angelic beauty and expression. Her hair of
a shining raven black, and curiously braided; her eyes
were dark, but gentle, although animated; her features
of a regular proportion, and her complexion wondrously
fair, each cheek tinged with a lovely pink.
“Felix seemed ravished with delight when he
saw her, every trait of sorrow vanished from his face,
and it instantly expressed a degree of ecstatic joy,
of which I could hardly have believed it capable; his
eyes sparkled, as his cheek flushed with pleasure;
and at that moment I thought him as beautiful as the
stranger. She appeared affected by different
feelings; wiping a few tears from her lovely eyes,
she held out her hand to Felix, who kissed it rapturously
and called her, as well as I could distinguish, his
sweet Arabian. She did not appear to understand
him, but smiled. He assisted her to dismount,
and dismissing her guide, conducted her into the cottage.
Some conversation took place between him and his
father, and the young stranger knelt at the old man’s
feet and would have kissed his hand, but he raised
her and embraced her affectionately.
