their distant peaks glistened with a silvery green. The winds were
perfectly still. We heard among the woods, at the bottom of the valleys,
and on the summits of the rocks, the piping cries and the soft notes of
the birds, wantoning in their nests, and rejoicing in the brightness
of the night and the serenity of the atmosphere. The hum of insects was
heard in the grass. The stars sparkled in the heavens, and their lurid
orbs were reflected, in trembling sparkles, from the tranquil bosom of
the ocean. Virginia's eye wandered distractedly over its vast and gloomy
horizon, distinguishable from the shore of the island only by the red
fires in the fishing boats. She perceived at the entrance of the harbour
a light and a shadow; these were the watchlight and the hull of the
vessel in which she was to embark for Europe, and which, all ready for
sea, lay at anchor, waiting for a breeze. Affected at this sight, she
turned away her head, in order to hide her tears from Paul.

Madame de la Tour, Margaret, and I, were seated at a little distance,
beneath the plantain-trees; and, owing to the stillness of the night, we
distinctly heard their conversation, which I have not forgotten.

Paul said to her,--"You are going away from us, they tell me, in three
days. You do not fear then to encounter the danger of the sea, at the
sight of which you are so much terrified?" "I must perform my duty,"
answered Virginia, "by obeying my parent." "You leave us," resumed
Paul, "for a distant relation, whom you have never seen." "Alas!" cried
Virginia, "I would have remained here my whole life, but my mother would
not have it so. My confessor, too, told me it was the will of God that I
should go, and that life was a scene of trials!--and Oh! this is indeed
a severe one."

"What!" exclaimed Paul, "you could find so many reasons for going, and