Year: 1873

mean ?" she cried. "Surely, you, of all
others, have most reason to be grateful
to the tree. Hasn't all you dreamt
under it come true ?"


"God knows" replied the husband,
az am grateful to Him and to you
Yes, it was q beautiful dream, and Ire
member it like yesterday, but every
thing is Thousand times better than
dreamt it, and you love, thousand
times prettier and dearer than the
young woman who appeared in my
dream"


"But still it was strange that you
should dream you were to marry me-"


81 never dreamt that All saw was
young woman, with two children, but
she was not half as pretty as you, or
the children either.


Fie!" cried the wife edo you mean
to deny me or the trees? Didn't you
tell me the first day we met? 1t was i'll
the evening, out there in the arbor.
Didn't you tell me you had dreamt you
were to marry me and become the land
lord of the Crown Inn ?"


Then the man remembered the joke
he had played his wife, and said


" 1t can't be helped, dear wife. I did
not really dream of you; and if said
so it was only a joke. remember you
were so very inquisitive, and I wanted
to tease you"


Upon this the wife burst into. tears,
and left the room. He followed her,
md did all he could to comfort her, but
in vain.


"You have stolen my love, and
cheated me out of my heart" she said
81 shall never be happy again; no,
neverp


Then he asked her if she did not love
him better than anybody in the world,
and if they had not been the happiest
couple in the whole village.


She could not deny this; but, never
theless, she remained sad and miser-
able, notwithstanding all he could
say.


Every attempt at reconciliation failed;
nearly all day she sat gloomily by her.
self, starting whenever her husband
came near her.


This state of things continuing for
some time, he also began to grow mel
ancholy, fearing he had altogether lost
his wife's love. Silently he moved about
the house, thinking how to cure the
evil; but no idea occurred to him; SO
at noon he went out into the village,
and loitered carelessly through the
| fields. In the distance stood the old
dreaming beech, queen of the forest
He went and sat beneath its shade,
thinking of days gone by. Five years
had passed since he, poor, miserable
wretch had rested there for the first
time, and dre&mt that pleasant dream


Then the beech began to rustic again,
as it had done five years ago, and to
move its mighty brances, and as they
moved there fell, as then, the golden
glittering sunlight across its leaves,
and through the boughs peeped ever
and anon the deep blue sky Then his
heart grew calmer and he slept. Soon
he dreamt that dream again of five years
ago. The woman at the table and the
little children at their play but now,
the faces of his own dear wife and child
ren, and she looked at him with her
large brown eyes SO kindly, ah, so
kindly! And then he awoke and found
it was only dream. More sorrowful
than before, he broke off small twig
from the tree and went home and
| placed it in his hymn book.


The next day was Sunday, and as
they went to church, the leaves fell out
at the wife's feet. He turned scarlet
as he stopped to pick them up and
put them into his pocket. But the wife
had seen it and asked what it was!


"Only leaves from the Dreaming
Beech, which is much kinder to me
than you are. Yesterday I was resting
beneath it and fell asleep. It wished to
console me, for l dreamt that you were
kind to noe again, and had forgiven
everything, but it is not true. The
good old beech, though it is noble
tree, knows nothing about the future. ("


The wife gazed at him, and it was as
if ray of sunshine had crossed her
face.


Husband, did you really dream
that ?"


"Yes," he answered positively.


And [ was really your wife ?"


Really my own true wife," and she
fell on mis- neck and half suffocated him
with Kisses.


=, -" Thank God," she said, "now it is
al right again. L love you so dearly
bow dearly you can never know And
all these long, weary days have been
in such dread lest I was wrong il
loving you, and that God meant me to
have another husband, and you another
wife for you certainly did steal my
heart, you bad man +; and there was de-
ception at first-yes, you stole my heart,
but it did not do you much good, for
you know things must have happened
just as they did, whether we would or
no" Then, after pause, she con
tinued:


Promise me never again to speak
slightingly of the Dreaming Beech"


" never will, for believe in it as
much as you do, depend upon it,
though in different way, perhaps
And now let us paste the leaves in the
beginning of our hymn-book SO that
they may not be lost"