"`Oh, Eunice,' he groaned, (and now, I think he was perfectly
sober,) `don't you love me, indeed? _I_ love you,--from my heart

I do: yes, I love you. Tell me how you feel towards me.'
"`Abel,' said she, earnestly, `I feel towards you only as a friend;

and if you wish me to retain a friendly interest in you, you must
never again talk in this manner. I do not love you, and I never

shall. Let me go back to the house.'
"His head dropped upon his breast, but he rowed back to the shore,

drew the bow upon the rocks, and assisted her to land. Then,
sitting down, he groaned forth--

"`Oh, Eunice, you have broken my heart!' and putting his big hands
to his face, began to cry.

"She turned, placed one hand on his shoulder, and said in a calm,
but kind tone--

"`I am very sorry, Abel, but I cannot help it.'
"I slipped aside, that she might not see me, and we returned by

separate paths.
"I slept very little that night. The conviction which I chased

away from my mind as often as it returned, that our Arcadian
experiment was taking a ridiculous and at the same time

impracticable development, became clearer and stronger. I felt
sure that our little community could not hold together much longer

without an explosion. I had a presentiment that Eunice shared my
impressions. My feelings towards her had reached that crisis where

a declaration was imperative: but how to make it? It was a
terrible struggle between my shyness and my affection. There was

another circumstance in connection with this subject, which
troubled me not a little. Miss Ringtop evidently" target="_blank" title="ad.明显地">evidently sought my

company, and made me, as much as possible, the recipient of her
sentimental outpourings. I was not bold enough to repel her--

indeed I had none of that tact which is so useful in such
emergencies,--and she seemed to misinterpret my submission. Not

only was her conversation pointedly directed to me, but she looked
at me, when singing, (especially, `Thou, thou, reign'st in this

bosom!') in a way that made me feel very uncomfortable. What if
Eunice should suspect an attachment towards her, on my part. What

if--oh, horror!--I had unconsciously said or done something to
impress Miss Ringtop herself with the same conviction? I shuddered

as the thought crossed my mind. One thing was very certain: this
suspense was not to be endured much longer.

"We had an unusually silent breakfast the next morning. Abel
scarcely spoke, which the others attributed to a natural

feeling of shame, after his display of the previous evening.
Hollins and Shelldrake discussed Temperance, with a special view to

his edification, and Miss Ringtop favored us with several
quotations about `the maddening bowl,'--but he paid no attention to

them. Eunice was pale and thoughtful. I had no doubt in my mind,
that she was already contemplating a removal from Arcadia.

Perkins, whose perceptive faculties were by no means dull,
whispered to me, `Shan't I bring up some porgies for supper?' but

I shook my head. I was busy with other thoughts, and did not join
him in the wood, that day.

"The forenoon was overcast, with frequent showers. Each one
occupied his or her room until dinner-time, when we met again with

something of the old geniality. There was an evident effort to
restore our former flow of good feeling. Abel's experience with

the beer was freely discussed. He insisted strongly that he had
not been laboring under its effects, and proposed a mutual test.

He, Shelldrake, and Hollins were to drink it in equal measures, and
compare observations as to their physical sensations. The others

agreed,--quite willingly, I thought,--but I refused. I had
determined to make a desperate attempt at candor, and Abel's fate

was fresh before my eyes.
"My nervousagitation increased during the day, and after sunset,

fearing lest I should betray my excitement in some way, I walked
down to the end of the promontory, and took a seat on the rocks.

The sky had cleared, and the air was deliciously cool and
sweet. The Sound was spread out before me like a sea, for the Long

Island shore was veiled in a silvery mist. My mind was soothed and
calmed by the influences of the scene, until the moon arose.

Moonlight, you know, disturbs--at least, when one is in love. (Ah,
Ned, I see you understand it!) I felt blissfully miserable, ready

to cry with joy at the knowledge that I loved, and with fear and
vexation at my cowardice" target="_blank" title="n.懦弱，胆怯">cowardice, at the same time.

"Suddenly I heard a rustling beside me. Every nerve in my body
tingled, and I turned my head, with a beating and expectant heart.

Pshaw! It was Miss Ringtop, who spread her blue dress on the rock
beside me, and shook back her long curls, and sighed, as she gazed

at the silver path of the moon on the water.
"`Oh, how delicious!' she cried. `How it seems to set the spirit

free, and we wander off on the wings of Fancy to other spheres!'
"`Yes,' said I, `It is very beautiful, but sad, when one is alone.'

"I was thinking of Eunice.
"`How inadequate,' she continued, `is language to express the

emotions which such a scene calls up in the bosom! Poetry alone is
the voice of the spiritual world, and we, who are not poets, must

borrow the language of the gifted sons of Song. Oh, Enos, I
WISH you were a poet! But you FEEL poetry, I know you do.

I have seen it in your eyes, when I quoted the burning lines of
Adeliza Kelley, or the soul-breathings of Gamaliel J. Gawthrop.

In HIM, particularly, I find the voice of my own nature.
Do you know his `Night-Whispers?' How it embodies the feelings of

such a scene as this!
"Star-drooping bowers bending down the spaces,

And moonlit glories sweep star-footed on;
And pale, sweet rivers, in their shining races,

Are ever gliding through the moonlit places,
With silver ripples on their tranced faces,

And forests clasp their dusky hands, with low and sullen moan!'
"`Ah!' she continued, as I made no reply, `this is an hour for the

soul to unveil its most secret chambers! Do you not think, Enos,
that love rises superior to all conventionalities? that those whose

souls are in unison should be allowed to reveal themselves to each
other, regardless of the world's opinions?'

"`Yes!' said I, earnestly.
"`Enos, do you understand me?' she asked, in a tender voice--almost

a whisper.
"`Yes,' said I, with a blushing confidence of my own passion.

"`Then,' she whispered, `our hearts are wholly in unison. I know
you are true, Enos. I know your noble nature, and I will never

doubt you. This is indeed happiness!'
"And therewith she laid her head on my shoulder, and sighed--

"`Life remits his tortures cruel,
Love illumes his fairest fuel,

When the hearts that once were dual
Meet as one, in sweet renewal!'

"`Miss Ringtop!' I cried, starting away from her, in alarm, `you
don't mean that--that--'

"I could not finish the sentence.
"`Yes, Enos, DEAR Enos! henceforth we belong to each other.'

"The painfulembarrassment I felt, as her true meaning shot through
my mind, surpassed anything I had imagined, or experienced in

anticipation, when planning how I should declare myself to Eunice.
Miss Ringtop was at least ten years older than I, far from handsome

(but you remember her face,) and so affectedly sentimental, that I,
sentimental as I was then, was sick of hearing her talk. Her

hallucination was so monstrous, and gave me such a shock of
desperate alarm, that I spoke, on the impulse of the moment, with