On nameless sorrow's churchyard pillow.

O hearts that break and give no sign
Save whitening lip and fading tresses,

Till Death pours out his cordial wine
Slow-dropped from Misery's crushing presses, -

If singing breath or echoing chord
To every hidden pang were given,

What endless melodies were poured,
As sad as earth, as sweet as heaven!

I hope that our landlady's daughter is not so badly off, after all.
That young man from another city who made the remark which you

remember about Boston State-house and Boston folks, has appeared at
our table repeatedly of late, and has seemed to me rather attentive

to this young lady. Only last evening I saw him leaning over her
while she was playing the accordion, - indeed, I undertook to join

them in a song, and got as far as "Come rest in this boo-oo," when,
my voice getting tremulous, I turned off, as one steps out of a

procession, and left the basso and soprano to finish it. I see no
reason why this young woman should not be a very proper match for a

man that laughs about Boston State-house. He can't be very
particular.

The young fellow whom I have so often mentioned was a little free
in his remarks, but very good-natured. - Sorry to have you go, - he

said. - School-ma'am made a mistake not to wait for me. Haven't
taken anything but mournin' fruit at breakfast since I heard of it.

- MOURNING fruit, - said I, - what's that? - Huckleberries and
blackberries, - said he; - couldn't eat in colors, raspberries,

currants, and such, after a solemn thing like this happening. - The
conceit seemed to please the young fellow. If you will believe it,

when we came down to breakfast the next morning, he had carried it
out as follows. You know those odious little "saas-plates" that

figure so largely at boarding-houses, and especially at taverns,
into which a strenuousattendantfemale trowels little dabs, sombre

of tint and heterogeneous of composition, which it makes you feel
homesick to look at, and into which you poke the elasticcoppery

tea-spoon with the air of a cat dipping her foot into a wash-tub, -
(not that I mean to say anything against them, for, when they are

of tinted porcelain or starry many-faceted crystal, and hold clean
bright berries, or pale virgin honey, or "lucent syrups tinct with

cinnamon," and the teaspoon is of white silver, with the Tower-
stamp, solid, but not brutally heavy, - as people in the green

stage of millionism will have them, - I can dally with their amber
semi-fluids or glossy spherules without a shiver,) - you know these

small, deep dishes, I say. When we came down the next morning,
each of these (two only excepted) was covered with a broad leaf.

On lifting this, each boarder found a small heap of solemn black
huckleberries. But one of those plates held red currants, and was

covered with a red rose; the other held white currants, and was
covered with a white rose. There was a laugh at this at first, and

then a short silence, and I noticed that her lip trembled, and the
old gentleman opposite was in trouble to get at his bandanna

handkerchief
- "What was the use in waiting? We should be too late for

Switzerland, that season, if we waited much longer." - The hand I
held trembled in mine, and the eyes fell meekly, as Esther bowed

herself before the feet of Ahasuerus. - She had been reading that
chapter, for she looked up, - if there was a film of moisture over

her eyes there was also the faintest shadow of a distant smile
skirting her lips, but not enough to accent the dimples, - and

said, in her pretty, still way, - "If it please the king, and if I
have found favor in his sight, and the thing seem right before the

king, and I be pleasing in his eyes" -
I don't remember what King Ahasuerus did or said when Esther got

just to that point of her soft, humble words, - but I know what I
did. That quotation from Scripture was cut short, anyhow. We came

to a compromise on the great question, and the time was settled for
the last day of summer.

In the mean time, I talked on with our boarders, much as usual, as
you may see by what I have reported. I must say, I was pleased

with a certain tenderness they all showed toward us, after the
first excitement of the news was over. It came out in trivial

matters, - but each one, in his or her way, manifested kindness.
Our landlady, for instance, when we had chickens, sent the LIVER

instead of the GIZZARD, with the wing, for the schoolmistress.
This was not an accident; the two are never mistaken, though some

landladies APPEAR as if they did not know the difference. The
whole of the company were even more respectfullyattentive to my

remarks than usual. There was no idle punning, and very little
winking on the part of that lively young gentleman who, as the

reader may remember, occasionally interposed some playful question
or remark, which could hardly be considered relevant, - except when

the least allusion was made to matrimony, when he would look at the
landlady's daughter, and wink with both sides of his face, until

she would ask what he was pokin' his fun at her for, and if he
wasn't ashamed of himself. In fact, they all behaved very

handsomely, so that I really felt sorry at the thought of leaving
my boarding-house.

I suppose you think, that, because I lived at a plain widow-woman's
plain table, I was of course more or less infirm in point of

worldly fortune. You may not be sorry to learn, that, though not
what GREAT MERCHANTS call very rich, I was comfortable, -

comfortable, - so that most of those moderate luxuries I described
in my verses on CONTENTMENT - MOST of them, I say - were within our

reach, if we chose to have them. But I found out that the
schoolmistress had a vein of charity about her, which had hitherto

been worked on a small silver and copper basis, which made her
think less, perhaps, of luxuries than even I did, - modestly" target="_blank" title="ad.谦虚地；有节制地">modestly as I

have expressed my wishes.
It is a rather pleasant thing to tell a poor young woman, whom one

has contrived to win without showing his rent-roll, that she has
found what the world values so highly, in following the lead of her

affections. That was an enjoyment I was now ready for.
I began abruptly:- Do you know that you are a rich young person?

I know that I am very rich, - she said. - Heaven has given me more
than I ever asked; for I had not thought love was ever meant for

me.
It was a woman's confession, and her voice fell to a whisper as it

threaded the last words.
I don't mean that, - I said, - you blessed little saint and seraph!

- if there's an angel missing in the New Jerusalem, inquire for her
at this boarding house! - I don't mean that! I mean that I - that

is, you - am - are - confound it! - I mean that you'll be what most
people call a lady of fortune. And I looked full in her eyes for

the effect of the announcement.
There wasn't any. She said she was thankful that I had what would

save me from drudgery, and that some other time I should tell her
about it. - I never made a greater failure in an attempt to produce

a sensation.
So the last day of summer came. It was our choice to go to the

church, but we had a kind of reception at the boarding-house. The
presents were all arranged, and among them none gave more pleasure

than the modest tributes of our fellow-boarders, - for there was
not one, I believe, who did not send something. The landlady would

insist on making an elegant bride-cake, with her own hands; to
which Master Benjamin Franklin wished to add certain embellishments

out of his private funds, - namely, a Cupid in a mouse-trap, done
in white sugar, and two miniature flags with the stars and stripes,

which had a very pleasing effect, I assure you. The landlady's
daughter sent a richly bound copy of Tupper's Poems. On a blank

leaf was the following, written in a very delicate and careful
hand:-

Presented to . . . by . . .