spray. The more he looked, the more the beauty and the wonder of
the scene grew upon him. The sun was dispersing the clouds and
adding the element of splendor to that of beauty. It became one of
the supreme moments of his life, and in the vanishing beauty of an
earthly scene he received an earnest of the perfect world beyond.

"With the exception of the broad dark river," he thought, "this
might be the Millennial morn, and nature standing decked in her
spotless ascension robes, waiting in breathless expectancy."

But his musings were unexpectedly interrupted, for just at this
moment Lottie Marsden put her hand lightly on his arm and said,
"Cousin Frank--pardon me--Mr. Hemstead, what is the matter? You
look as rapt as if you saw a vision."

He turned and seemed as startled as if he had, for standing by
him and looking inquiringly into his face was a being that, with
her brilliant eyes and exquisitely clear and delicate complexion,
seemed as beautiful, and at the same time as frail and ready to
vanish, as the snow-wreaths without.

She saw the strong admiration and almost wonder depicted on his
open face, though she seemed so innocently oblivious of it, and for
a moment left him under the spell, then said, "Are you so resentful
at my desertion last evening that you won't speak to me?"

"Look there," he replied, and he pointed to the fairy-land without.

Lottie's wonder and delight were almost equal to his own, for she
had never witnessed such a scene before.