how time was passing, in the tumult of joyful feelings which filled my
heart," said the girl with a sunny smile.

"It gladdens my heart, dear sister, to know it gives you such great joy
to celebrate the Resurrection of our Lord," he replied. "Truly it is a
blessed privilege to be able to lose one's self in the contemplation of
holy things, and, forgetting the cares of this present life, rejoice in
the hope of heaven, and be as one dead to every temporal joy."

"But I was not thinking at all of the life beyond the grave, only of
this present one. How beautiful it is, and what happiness to be able
to enjoy it!" she said candidly, as her youthful countenance lighted up
with a glowing expression of love of life and pleasure.

Hers was a singularly beautiful face, on which the man at her side
gazed with open admiration. The close-fitting cap, with its bright red
bow, indicated that the girl had not yet reached her eighteenth year.
Here and there peeped out little truant locks of the glossy black hair,
whose richness and abundance the close covering could not entirely
conceal or fetter. The broad, intellectual brow; the delicate,
pencilled lashes, from the shadow of which shone forth lustrous black
eyes that flashed with intelligence and spirit; the arched nose, with
its slightly dilated nostrils; pouting mouth, with full, cherry lips,
all gave her something of a proud expression, which was, however,
softened by the beaming smile which so often lighted it up. Although
only a faint color tinged her cheek, yet the clear, brunette complexion
glowed with fresh, warm, young life, and the slender, lithe form that
leaned with such childlike abandon against the old tree displayed the
most exquisite symmetry.