Urbana union. [volume] (Urbana, Ohio) 1862-1872, 1871-05-31
VOLUME X. NO. Il.

Z GleQ antelope sgOOu III the fuduOW OF u
tall acacia, while half-naked Egyptian
watched it from behind q ridge of rocks
that rose abruptly in the foreground.
And now this artist had come down
TO Cornwall to sketch the romantic and
picturesque scenery fo- which the land
Of King Arthur and his gOOdlie knights
is so famed, and my father had invited
him to make his home at the Cedars in
the meanwhile, owing TO an ancient in
timacy that existed between our fam
lilies.
1 can see him now as | saw him then;
his 1.-the, slender figure Of a medium
height, his fauItless face, Of marvellous
whiteness, set ia a frame of golden,
wayy hair, his laughing, grey eyes, his
firm, manly mouth, shadOwed by a
heavy, dropping mOustache.
Our tastes in music, art, poetry, were
all parallel, aud thus it came to pass
that we were very, very often together;
gaIlOping over the heath on horseback,
cleaving the bounding waters in a boat,
walking in The spacious balls and ter
raced gardens Of the Cedars, sitting in a
favorite haunt of mine by the shore, in
the dark, cool shadow of a shaft of gran
ite, while the breakers rolled upon the
reef below, and the sea-gulls screamed
in the ether overhead etching i'm
our sketch-bOoks the outlines Of
the landscape shimmering before
US in the summer heat and light;
the scattered fsher-village on the red
sand-beaeh with its WhiteWashed Gotta
ges Overhung, by clematis and wood
bine, aud surrounded by well-kept gar
deds, green with shrubs and vegetables,
and gay with sunfOweTs and peoples;
the ivied church on the hilltop, half
hidden by the weeping willows that
swung their branches lazily i'm the salty
breeze; the broad, level downs, bro-
ken here and there by great heaps Of
granite erected by unknown hands in
times anterior to history; the rill that
rippled through its sedgy, sun-burned
banks, and arched by falling, moss
stained bridge; the waste Of waters,
sparkling like the OtOntala until it
melted into the amethyst Of the air, up
holding single stately vessel that sail
ed TO far-Of shores; Che pillar-like light
house on a jutting strip of land in the
dimmest distance; the brown walls and
shining windows Of the Cedars, gllnting
through the groves that grew about it,
while its slender towers stood boldly
out against the brilliant sky, the top
most Of them all surmounted by the
blood-red banner of st. George.
/ PART II.
/ 1t was an evening in September, cool
and clear. Aubrey and had been
walking by the banks of an artificial
lake in an unfrequented part of the
park. o how beautiful had been his
conversation upon that occasion! What
grand passages he had read from rarest
PONIES in harmony with the time and
place! Indeed, indeed his heart, like
that of Walter of the VOgelweid, was a
very
! "-Hest Of singing birds
Rocked on the topmost boughs ofliGc!"
At last his rich, musical voice was 81.
lent, and even the genii of the air had
ceased to echo it around US. I listened
instead to the whispers, the perpetual
whispers, of the winds in the evergreens
that Overhung our path, until
mystic prescnces of power
Half-upsnatched me to the Timelcss,"
as thought Of the land where eons
and eOns ago the musical murmurs Ol
the leaves were held as the holy utter.
ances of the gods and demi-gods, and
where the fathOmless-eyed sybils inter.
preted their mystic meanings to the
dwellers by the dark Egean.
As we walked home through The ten
der twilight, Aubrey said, half-inquir-
ingly:
Blanca, you spoke of expecting a
visitor this evening, who will spend the
winter with You, I believer"
Yes, my half-cOusin, Miss de Percy,
Miss IsOIa de Percy / answered de-
liberately. She is the daughter of the
late Llewyllen de Percy, the well known
critic
Then, stopping 10 Gull asplendid spray
of fconvoIvulus, continued:
she has been spending the past sea.
son at several of our more exclusive
spas, in company with her uncle, and
will return with him in the spring tc
Spain, where she resides with hel
mother, who belongs to an ancient Cas-.
lillian family, of great wealth and noble
station.'
The lady OfwhOm we had been speak
ing arrived in our absence, and wher
we reached the house we were intro
. duced to her by my aunt, upon whose
arm she was leaning as we entered the
drawing-rOOm. She was somewhat the
senior Of myself, with a tall, willowy
figure, features Of the finest IOnisn type
! dark, sparkling eyes, dusk-tinted, satiI
complexion, henna lips that opened Iikr
. the ealyx Of flower, exposing teeth o
, foam flake whiteness. Her rich, raveI
tresses hung in waves below her waist
hecked with gOld-dust, and ornamenteC
+ by shining strands of purest pearls. He
dress of silk, stiff with gold and gems
: and her necklace and bracelets Of uR-
. cut carbuncles haFmOnized with he
=. deep, Eastern beauty; and what wouli
have been gaudy If worn by me, in he
was the acme Of taste.
When she was solicited to sing tina
/ evening she crossed the room with tin
: sinuous ease Of royalty, and seating her
g self at the harp she swept the chord
J. with an imDsssioned mower that sur