her for the excess of a maiden virtue, she felt not the least pang of
shame, as she found herself thus suddenly walking through the streets of
Malines along with a young stranger, whose dress and air betokened him of
rank superior to her own.

"Your voice is very gentle," said he, after a pause; "and that," he
added, with a slight sigh, "is the only criterion by which I know the
young and the beautiful!" Lucille now blushed, and with a slight mixture
of pain in the blush, for she knew well that to beauty she had no
pretension. "Are you a native of this town?" continued he.

"Yes, sir; my father holds a small office in the customs, and my mother
and I eke out his salary by making lace. We are called poor, but we do
not feel it, sir."

"You are fortunate! there is no wealth like the heart's
wealth,--content," answered the blind man, mournfully.

"And, monsieur," said Lucille, feeling angry with herself that she had
awakened a natural envy in the stranger's mind, and anxious to change the
subject--"and, monsieur, has he been long at Malines?"

"But yesterday. I am passing through the Low Countries on a tour;
perhaps you smile at the tour of a blind man, but it is wearisome even to
the blind to rest always in the same place. I thought during
church-time, when the streets were empty, that I might, by the help of my
dog, enjoy safely at least the air, if not the sight of the town; but
there are some persons, methinks, who cannot have even a dog for a
friend!"