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CHAPTER II.
"Farewell!
For in that word—that fatal word—howe'er,
We promise, hope, believe—there breathes despair."
Byron.
The history of a minute—why, it would give a bird's-eye view of every possible variety in human existence. Wonderful the many events that are happening together—life and death—joy and sorrow; the great and the mean; the common and the rare; good and evil; are all in the record of that brief segment of time.
We left the moonlight shining on the bright eye and the crimsoning blush—we proceed to where it fell on the glittering lash and the pale and tearful cheek. There was something cheerful in the scene which we have just left—the window opening into the garden-room filled with many gladdening signs of daily amusement and occupation, and the silence broken by the light laugh and mirthful tones of the children who were watching the birds. But here all was mournful and desolate—for nothing is more mournful than
