Clarksville weekly chronicle. (Clarksville, Tenn.) 1873-1890, 1883-09-15

i conjectured by his manner that h
inquired the CAUSE of his sons sol
e row. Felix replied in \ cheerft
accent, and the old man WAS recon
{ mencing his music, when some on
3 tapped at the door.
1t was a lady on horseback, az
, cOmpanied by countryman as
; guide. The lady was dressed in
) dark suit, and covered with a thicl
black veil. Agatha asked a que
! tion; to which the stranger Onl,
| replied by prOnouncing in a swee
accent, the name of Felix. He
, voice was musical, but unlike tha
ofeither of my friends. On hear
, ing this word, Felix came up has
tily to the lady; who. when sh'
saw him, threw up her veil, and
beheld countenance of angelic
beauty and expression. Her hail
OF shining raven black, and Gu
riously braided; her eyes were
dark but gentle, although anima-
ted her features of regular pro
portion, and her complexion won
drOusly fair, each cheek tinged
with a lovely tint. .
"Felix seemed ravished with de-
! light when he saw her, every trait
of sorrow vanished from his face,
and it instantly expressed a degree
of ecstatic joy, Of which l could
hardly have believed it capable ;
his eyes sparkled, as his cheek
flushed with pleasure; and at that
moment thought him as beauti-
fHl as the stranger. She appeared
affected by different feelings wip-
ing a few tears from her lovely eyes
she held out her hand to Felix, who
kissed it rapturously, and called
her, as well as could distinguish.
his sweet Arabian. She did not
appear to understand him, but
smiled. He assisted her to dis
mount, and, disnissing her guide,
conducted her into the cottage,
Some conversation took place be-
tween him and his father; and the
young stranger knelt at the old
mans feet, and would have kissed
his hand, but he raised her, and
embraced her affectionately. .i,4,..
81 soon perceived that, although
the stranger uttered articulate
sounds, and appeared to have Ian
guage of her own. she was neither
understood by, nor herself under
stood the cottagers. They made
many signs which / did not com
prehend but saw that her pres
ence diffused gladness through the
cottage, dispelling their sorrow as
the sun dissipates the morning
mists. Felix seemed peculiarly
happy, and with smiles of de-
light welcomed his Arabian. Agatha
the ever-gentle Agatha, kissed the
hand of the lovely stranger; and
pointing TO her brother, made signs
which appeared to me to mean that
he had been sorrowful until she
came. Some hours passed thus,
while they, by their cOuntenances,
expressed joy, the cause of which /
did not comprehend. Presently 1
found, by the frequent recurrence
of one sound which the stranger re-
peated after them, that she was en-
deavOring to learn their language
and the idea instantly occurred to
me, that should make use of the
same instructions to the same end.
The stranger learned about twenty
words at the first lesson most o
them indeed were those which |
had before understood, but / prof
ted blythe others. nHFH ir7 tjs'
"As night came on, Agatha and
the Arabian retired early. When
they separated, Felix kissed the
hand of the stranger, and said,
Good night, sweet Safie.' He sat
up much longer, conversIng with
his father and, by frequent repeti-
ton of her name, conjectured that
their lovely guest was thesubject of
their conversation. / ardently de-
sired to understand them, and bent
every faculty toward that purpose
but found it utterly impossible.
"The next morning Felix went
out to his work and, after the
usual occupations of Agatha were
finished, the Arabian sat at the feet
of the old man, and, taking his
guitar, played some airs SO en-
trancingly beautiful, that they at
once drew tears of sorrow and de-
light from my eyes. She sang, and
her voice flowed in a rich cadence,
swelling or dying away, like a
nightengale of the woods.
"When she had finished, she
gave the guitar to Agatha, who at
first declined it. She played Il sim
pie air, and her voice accompanied
it in sweet accents, but unlike the
wOndrous strain of the stranger.
The old man appeared enraptured,
and said some words which Agatha
endeavored to explain to Safe, and
by which he appeared to wish to
express that she bestowed on him
the greatest delight by her music.
"The days now passed as peace
ably as before, with the sole altera-
ton, that joy had taken the place of
sadness in the countenances of my
friends. Safe was always gay and |
happy; she and | improved rapidly
in the knowlege of language, so that
in two months | began to cOmpre-
hend most of the words uttered by |
my protectors.
"In the meanwhile also, the |
black ground was covered with |
heritage, and the green banks inter
spersed with innumerable flowers,
sweet to the scent and the eyes,
stars of pale radiance among the
woods; the sun became
warmer. the nights clear and bal
my; and my nocturnal rambleS
were an extreme pleasure. to me,
although they were considerably
by the late setting and
early rising of the sun; fOrI never
ventured abroad during daylight,
fearful Of meeting with the same
treatment as had formerly endur-
ed in the first village which i en-
tered.
my days were spent in close at
tentiOn that | might more speedily
master the language and l might
boast that improved more rapid
ly than the Arabian, who under
stood very little, and conversed in
while comprehen-
ded and could initiate almost every
word that was spoken. ...... ..
"While improved in speech,
also learned the science of letters, as
it was taught to the stranger; and
this opened before me wide field
of wonder and delight.
"The book from which Felix in
Safe was Volney's ruins
of Empires / should not have un.
derstOod the purpose OF this book,
had not Felix, in reading it, given
very minute explanations. He had
chosen this work, he said, because
The dpCIaInatOrV stVle was framed