uttered in tones more earnest than any he had yet employed in the
dialogue, and with something of surprise in his accents.

"Perhaps so; but that makes them no intimates of mine, William
Hinkley. They may be very good young men, and, indeed, so far as
I know, they really are; but that makes no difference. We find our
acquaintances and our intimates among those who are congenial, who
somewhat resemble us in spirit, feeling, and understanding."

"Ah, Margaret!" said her rustic companion with a sigh, which amply
testified to the humility of his own self-estimate, and of the
decline of his hope which came with it--"ah, Margaret, if that
be the rule, where are you going to find friends and intimates in
Charlemont?"

"Where!" was the single word spoken by the haughty maiden, as her
eye wandered off to the cold tops of the distant hills along which
the latest rays of falling sunlight, faint and failing, as they fell,
imparted a hue, which though bright, still as it failed to warm,
left an expression of October sadness to the scene, that fitly
harmonized with the chilling mood under which she had spoken
throughout the interview.

"I don't think, Margaret," continued the lover, finding courage as
he continued, "that such a rule is a good one. I know it can't be
a good one for happiness. There's many a person that never will meet
his or her match in this world, in learning and understanding--and
if they won't look on other persons with kindness, because they
are not altogether equal to them, why there's a chance that they'll
always be solitary and sad. It's a real blessing, I believe, to have