"Down in the meadow, 'mong the clover,
I walked with Nelly by my side.
Now all those happy days are over,
Farewell, my dark Virginia bride.
Nelly was a lady;
Last night she died.
Toll the bell for lovely Nell,
My dark Virginia bride."

The bride listened intensely, her fingers resting lightly on the keys,
and when the sounds--died away she started up, exclaiming, "What a
voice! I never heard anything like it."

She moved eagerly toward the veranda, but was suddenly arrested by her
husband. "No, no, darling," said he. "You mustn't expose yourself to
the night air."

"Then do go out yourself and bring her in," urged she. "I must hear
more of that voice. Who is she?"

"One of the darkies, I suppose," rejoined he. "You know they all have
musical gifts."

"Not such gifts as that, I imagine," she replied. "Do go out and bring
her in."

She was about to draw the curtain aside to look out, when he nervously
called her attention to another window. "See here!" he exclaimed. "My
people are gathering to welcome their new missis. In answer to Tom's