creation; and it would seem that some such power, in the present instance, suspended the threatened blow. 17. The eyes of the monster and the kneeling maiden met for an instant, when the former stooped to examine her fallen foe; next, to scent her luckless cub. From the latter examination it turned, however, with its eyes apparently emitting flashes of fire, its tail lashing its sides furiously, and its claws projecting for inches from its broad feet. 18. "Hist! hist!" said a low voice; "stoop lower, girl; your bonnet hides the creature's head." It was rather the yielding of nature, than a compliance with this unexpected order, that caused the head of our heroine to sink on her bosom; when she heard the report of the rifle, the whizzing of the bullet, and the enraged cries of the beast, who was rolling over on the earth, biting its own flesh, and tearing the twigs and branches within its reach. At the next instant, the form of Leather-stocking rushed by her; and he called aloud, "Come in, Hector; come in; 't is a hard-lived animal, and may jump again." 19. Nathan maintained his position in front of the maidens most fearlessly, notwithstanding the violent bounds and threatening aspect of the wounded panther, which gave several indications of returning strength and ferocity, until his rifle was again loaded; when he stepped up to the enraged animal, and, placing the muzzle close to its head, every spark of life was extinguished by the discharge. LESSON LXVIII. SONG OF THE STARS. BRYANT. 1. WHEN the radiant morn of creation broke, And the empty realms of darkness and death a The name of the hunter. And orbs of beauty and spheres of flame And this was the song the bright ones sung: 2. "Away, away, through the wide, wide sky,The fair blue fields that before us lie, -- Each sun, with the worlds that round him roll, 3. "For the source of glory uncovers his face, 4. "Look, look, through our glittering ranks afar, How they brighten and bloom, as they swiftly pass! woods lean. 5. "And see, where the brighter day-beams pour, 6. "Glide on in your beauty, ye youthful spheres, To weave the dance that measures the years; a The fixed stars are supposed to be suns like our own, having planets or worlds revolving round them. b The rainbow is formed of drops of rain or water, which sepa rate the light of the sun into its seven primary colors. Glide on, in the glory and gladness sent To the veil of whose brow your lamps are dim." LESSON LXIX. TO A STAR." MISS DAVIDSON. 1. THOU bright glittering star of even, How quick 't would spread its wings to thee! 2. How calmly, brightly, dost thou shine, 3. There, beings pure as heaven's own air, 4. There cloudless days and brilliant nights, 5 Thou little sparkling star of even, a Perhaps the planet Venus, usually called the evening star, is alluded to. The nearest of the fixed stars is supposed to be more than seventy billions of miles distant from the earth. LESSON LXX. A GHOST STORY. WHITTLESEY. 1. I HAD heard, in my youth, as I presume most of iny readers have done, the usual quantity of marvelous tales of ghosts, and witches, and spirits; nestled closer toward the others in the room, when the fearful tale was telling, hardly dared to go to bed after it was finished, and when there, covered my head closely with the bed-clothes, for fear some awful spectacle would blast my eye-sight, and lay shivering and trembling for very terror, until sleep furnished the welcome relief. These tales had a wonderful effect upon my imagination, and made me very timid when alone, especially at night. 2. I have had the usual experience, too, of fancying apparitions from the moonbeams falling upon the wall, my clothes hanging upon the chair, or any other thing which a little light and a great deal of imagination could readily convert into the semblance of a spirit. But as I always had a proneness to investigate every thing, these appearances, upon examination, of course were satisfactorily accounted for; but many times I have made the examination when absolutely shivering with fear. Several such false alarms rather tended to restore my courage, and to convince me that spiritual apparitions were not quite as common as I had supposed. 3. When I was about fifteen years of age, I was low in health, and my nervous system was greatly deranged, requiring some care and change of scene to restore the tone of my physical frame. My father sent me to reside with an aged clergyman of a small parish in a quiet and secluded town in Connecticut. I occupied a small, neat bed-room, the bed in which was hung with curtains of dark calico; and the whole room and furniture had a somewhat somber and antique air, in perfect keeping with the house, the place, and the owner. 4. One night I awoke, and found myself lying on my back; and saw, sitting upon the side of the bed and just at the part ing of the curtain, in a line between my eyes and the window, a very aged man. The spectacle struck me with some surprise at first, but no dread. I could see distinctly the bed curtains, the furniture of the room, the old bureau of dark wood, with its filigree-work, and brass handles, my own clothes hanging on a chair, the window and the stars shining through it, and that figure sitting upon the side of my bed. 5. Every thing was well known and familiar except the figure. That was the figure of a very old man, clad in a Quaker" garb, with a rusty, broad-brimmed hat upon his head, a rusty and thread-bare suit of gray clothes, as if they had been much worn; large buttons upon his coat; a vest, with broad and wide flaps; small clothes upon his spindle legs, with large, old-fashioned buckles at the knees, which I could see just at the edge of the bed, below which his feet hung down out of sight. 6. I did not at first pay much attention to his face. Soon my eyes were attracted to that, when I perceived it was deeply wrinkled, and ashy pale, with a beard of long, thin, white hair, which hung quite down to his bosom in straggling snowy locks. The eye was white and lusterless, and immovable, and was fixed upon me with a dead, stony gaze, but wholly devoid of vitality or expression. There was no movement of muscle, limb, or feature, but there seemed to be a fascination in that gaze which riveted my own sight, without the power of withdrawing it. 7. Soon a sensation of fear began to creep over me, which by degrees amounted to terror, and the very agony of horror. The blood absolutely froze in my veins, and I could feel my hair rising on end, while great drops of sweat stood on my forehead, and a sense of suffocation and dread pervaded my whole frame. The same stony gaze was riveted upon me, looking directly into my own eyes, which I could not remove from the revolting object. a The sect of Quakers, properly Friends, originated from George Fox. of England about A. D. 1647. |