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selves

Were sitting at the door, "Thou must not go:

We have no other Child but thee to lose,
None to remember-do not go away,

For if thou leave thy Father he will die."
The Youth made answer with a jocund voice;
And Isabel, when she had told her fears,
Recovered heart. That evening her best
fare

Did she bring forth, and all together sat Like hapny people round a Christmas fire.

With daylight Isabel resumed her work : And all the ensuing week the house appeared As cheerful as a grove in Spring; at length The expected letter from their kinsman

came,

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tongue

Then fell upon thee. Day by day passed on, And still I loved thee with increasing love. Never to living ear cam sweeter sounds Than when I heard thee by our own fireside

First uttering, without words, a natural tune; While thou, a feeding babe, didst in thy joy Sing at thy Mother's breast. Month followed month,

And in the open fields my life was passed And on the mountains; else I think that thou

Hadst been brought up upon thy Father's knees.

But we were playmates, Luke: among these hills,

As well thou knowest, in us the old and young

Have played together, nor with me didst thou

Lack any pleasure which a boy can know." Luke had a manly heart; but at these words He sobbed aloud. The old Man grasped his hand,

And said, "Nay, do not take it so I see That these are things of which I need not speak.

-Even to the utmost I have been to thee A kind and a good Father: and herein 1 but repay a gift which I myself Received at other's hands; for, though now old.

Beyond the common life of man, I still Remember them who loved me in my youth. Both of them sleep together: here they lived,

As all their Forefathers had done; and when At length their time was come, they were not loth

To give their bodies to the family mould. I wished that thou shouldst live the life they lived:

But, 'tis a long time to look back, my Son,
And see so little gain from threescore years.
These fields were burthened when they came
to me;

Till I was forty years of age, not more
Than half of my inheritance was mine.
I toiled and toiled; God blessed me in my
work,

And till these three weeks past the land was free.

-It looks as if it never could endure Another Master. Heaven forgive me, Luke, If I judge ill for thee, but it seems good That thou should'st go."

At this the old Man paused; Then, pointing to the stones near which they stood,

Thus, after a short silence, he resumed: "This was a work for us; and now my Son, It is a work for me. But, lay one stoneHere, lay it for me, Luke, with thine own hands.

Nay, Boy, be of good hope; we both may live

To see a better day. At eighty-four

I still am strong and hale;-do thou thy part;

I will do mine-I will begin again
With many tasks that were resigned to thee:
Up to the heights, and in among the storms,
Will I without thee go again, and do
All works which I was wont to do alone,
Before I knew thy face.--Heaven bless thee,
Boy!

Thy heart these two weeks has been beating

fast

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What will be left to us!-But, I forget
My purposes. Lay now the corner-stone,
As I requested; and hereafter, Luke,
When thou art gone away, should evil men
Be thy companions, think of me, my Son,
And of this moment; hither turn thy
thoughts,

And God will strengthen thee; amid all fear
And all temptations, Luke, I pray that thou
May'st bear in mind the life thy Fathers
lived,

Who, being innocent, did for that cause Bestir them in good deeds. Now, fare thee well

When thou return'st, thou in this place wilt

see

A work which is not here: a covenant 'Twill be between us: but, whatever fate Befall thee, I shall love thee to the last, And bear thy memory with me to the grave."

The Shepherd ended here; and Luke stooped down,

And, as his Father had requested, laid The first stone of the Sheep-fold. At the sight

The old Man's grief broke from him; to his heart

He pressed his Son, he kissed him and wept;

And to the house together they returned, -Hushed was that House in peace, or seem

ing peace,

Ere the night fell :-- with morrow's dawn the Boy

Began his journey, and when he had reached
The public way, he put on a bold face;
And all the neighbors, as he passed their
doors,

Came forth with wishes and with farewell prayers,

That followed him till he was out of sight.

A good report did from their Kinsman

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Sometimes when he could find a leisure hour

He to that valley took his way, and there

XXXIII.

Wrought at the Sheep-fold. Meantime Luke THE WIDOW ON WINDERMERE

began

To slacken in his duty; and, at length,
He in the dissolute city gave himself
To evil courses: ignominy and shame
Fell on him, so that he was driven at last
To seek a hiding-place beyond the seas.

There is a comfort in the strength of love; 'Twill make a thing endurable, which else Would overset the brain, or break the heart: I have conversed with more than one who well

Remember the old Man, and what he was Years after he had heard this heavy news. His bodily frame had been from youth to

age

Of an unusual strength. Among the rocks He went, and still looked up to sun and cloud,

And listened to the wind; and, as before,
Performed all kinds of labor for his sheep,
And for the land, his small inheritance.
And to that hollow dell from time to time
Did he repair, to build the Fold of which
His flock had need. 'Tis not forgotten yet
The pity which was then in every heart
For the old Man-and 'tis believed by all
That many and many a day he thither went,
And never lifted up a single stone.

There, by the Sheep-fold, sometimes was he seen

Sitting alone, or with his faithful Dog,
Then old, beside him, lying at his feet.
The length of full seven years, from time to
time,

He at the building of this Sheep-fold wrought,

And left the work unfinished when he died.
Three years, or little more, did Isabel
Survive her Husband: at her death the
estate

Was sold, and went into a stranger's hand.
The Cottage which was named the EVENING
STAR

Is gone the ploughshare has been through

the ground

On which it stood: great changes have been wrought

In all the neighborhood:-yet the oak is left That grew beside their door; and the remains Of the unfinished Sheep-fold may be seen Beside the boisterous brook of Green-head Ghyll

1800.

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