Far away, on the plains of Shiloh,
Fred sleeps in an unknown grave:
With his ship and noble sailors

Harry sank beneath the wave.
So sit closer, darling, closer-

Let me clasp your hand in mine:
Alone we commenced life's journey,
Alone we are left behind.

Your hair, once gold, to silver
They say by age has grown;

But I know it has caught its whiteness
From the halo round His throne.
They give us a diamond wedding
This Christmas eve, dear wife;
But I know your orange-blossoms
Will be a crown of life.

"Tis dark; the lamps should be lighted;
And your hand has grown so cold.
Has the fire gone out? how I shiver!
But, then, we are very old.

Hush! I hear sweet strains of music:
Perhaps the guests have come.
No-'tis the children's voices-

I know them, every one.

On that Christmas eve they found them,
Their hands together clasped;
But they never knew their children
Had been their wedding guests.

With her head upon his bosom,
That had never ceased its love,
They held their diamond wedding
In the mansion house above.

MRS. BEAN'S COURTSHIP.

CLARA AUGUSTA.

Did I ever tell you how it happened that I din't live and die an old maid? No? Well, I thought so. If you'll just keep quiet, and stop twirling the handle of your parasol, I

don't mind intertaining you with an account of my airly life, while I bind off the heel of this stocking.

Who in creation is that going into Brown's? A woman with a blue shawl on! "Taint none of the nabors, for there haint a blue shawl in the naborhood; and she's got an amberill in her hand. 'Pears to me Brown's folks have a tremenjuous sight of company. I don't believe, just atween you and me, that they've had a mite of pork in their house for months! Danil seed an empty pork-barril a setting afore their door the first of April, and there it's sot ever It's a mystery to me what makes 'em invite folks

sense.

so hard to visit 'em.

But I was agwine to tell you something about old times. It's nigh on to twenty years ago that father sold the Benson place, and moved into the State of Maine. Maine is one of the powerfulest regions that ever you seed! Famous place for white-pine gum, big punkins, and ship-timber. Beats the world, and all the starry spears, on them kind of things. Great place for folks to grow big there, too. I've seen a girl of sixteen that was as much as two inches taller than Grandfather Lynitt's brother Eben, without stockings!

When father fust moved to Pineville I was just as oncontented as I could be; but after awhile I got acquainted with some of the folks, and then I felt as much at home as a sheep in clover.

There! there's that same woman coming out of Brown's agin! She's got a bundle! A piece of fresh meat, I'll warrant! Brown's folks killed a steer yesterday. Strange, now, that they do give away things so! If I was Miss Brown, and my husband had to work as hard as Brown does for everything, I'd try and see if I couldn't be a little more equinomical with my pervisions. It's singular that some folks haint got no more thought!

Less see where did I leave off? I declare, I feel so curis about that blue shawl that I can't keep the run of what

I'm saying; and if I haint dropped three stitches on the heel of this stocking! Now that's too bad! I guess I can fix 'em though-I'm good at fixing knittin' work.

Joshua Bean was the great beau at Pineville. He beat all the rest of the fellers holler. All the girls in the place were sot together to captivate him, and if he happened to turn his eyes in the direction of one of 'em, all the others was madder than hatters! It did seem as if Sally Price and Betsy Walker would break their necks to see which should get him! They would have gone through fire and water, if he had asked 'em to, and never got scorched nor drowned.

Every girl that I was acquainted with kept up an everlasting talking about Joshua Bean, and as I'd never seen him I concluded he must be more of a sight than the elephant. One evening Sally Price had a party, and then, for the first time, I seed Joshua Bean. He was a tall, light-haired feller, with eyes that looked as if they wouldn't wash and bile well, and the pertest turned-up nose that ever came out of the ark!

I was introduced to him, and we played Copenhagen, and Button, and Hunt the Slipper, together; and I kissed him through the back of a cheer, and he kissed me over the top of the looking-glass.

After the performance was all through with, he asked if he might escort me home; and I let him. I made believe I didn't want him to go; but then, you see, I was just as willing as could be, and terrible 'feard he'd take me as I sed, and not as I meant. Forchunitly, he was acquainted with the girls, and understood their folderols; so he didn't pay no attention at all to what I sed, but just grabbed my arın and marched off with me.

Wasn't all of the rest of the girls provoked? Didn't they turn up their noses at me? Didn't they call Joshua a half-baked, sneaking sky-scraper? Didn't they, now? I rather guess they did.

The next Sunday about four o'clock in the afternoon, an hour after we'd got home.from meeting, mother looked out of the window, down the road, and sez she:

"Lawful heart! If there haint Joshua Bean a-coming up the street."

When I heerd what she said I blushed like a piny; and Sam and Danil they just whistled.

"I wonder," sez marm, "what his bizness can be? He haint got no tin pail nor nothing that I can see. He can't be coming to borry meal; and we've paid his father for that quarter of veal, and I've kerried home his mother's hand reel."

"Guess it's more'n as likely as not," sez pa, "that he's coming to see our Dorothy. I seed him give her a pondlily to meeting this morning; and I declare she's got it in her hair now."

66 Humph," sez marm; "you did, indeed! Well, then I guess we'll scramble out of the room as fast as ever we can, and leave the young folks to theirselves. Come, Sam and Dan."

And off they went. In about a minit I heard Joshua knock at the door. My heart went pitty-patty, but I ariz and opened the door. Joshua was there, looking skeered nigh about to death.

"How de do ?" sez he.

"How de do?" sez I; "won't you come in?"

“I dunno,” sez he.

"You'd better," sez I.

"Where's your par?" sez he.

"He's to home," sez I; "do you want to see him?”

"No, I dunno as I do," sez he; "it's kinder warm today, haint it?" and he wiped his face with his red bandith' handkercher.

66

"Yes," sez I, "'tis warm; you'd better come in."

"I don't keer if I do," sez he, and in he came, and took a cheer on the settle. I sat down on a stool a little ways off.

"Kinder cool for the season, haint it?" sez he, buttoning up his coat.

แ "Yes," sez I, though I perspired like a washerwoman. Then there was an orful long spell of nothing's being sed. I pleated up a newspaper and fanned myself; Joshua pared his finger-nails and tied his handkercher up in konts. Finally Joshua kinder sidled up toward me, and arter he'd looked at me a spell sideways, sez he:

"Dorothy, sugar is almost as sweet as anything else, now isn't it?"

"Yes, 'tis," sez I, "unless sap molasses is sweeter." "Don't you think honey is sweeter than any one of 'em ?" sez he.

66 Yes, I do," sez I.

66

Well, Dorothy," sez he, "you beat all three of 'em." Then there was another spell of saying nothing. I felt so fluctuated that I couldn't think of nothing to say, and Joshua was run out of subjects. At last a new idea struck him. Sez he:

"Dorothy, where do you s'pose I got this weskit?" "I dunno," sez I.

"Guess," sez he.

"Down to Burnham's store ?" sez I.

"No," scz he.

"To Nelson's, then?"

"No, sir!"

"Then your mother wove it for you?"

"Not by a good deal! It was made out of Aunt Peggy's old red gownd."

Then it seemed as if he never would think of anything more to say, till bymeby sez he:

“Dorothy, how many chickens has your folks got ?" "Only twenty-three," sez I; but we had as much as fifty. "Well, I declare! what has become of 'em?"

"The hawks ketched some, and some died a-shedding their feathers."