LITTLE ELLIE.

LITTLE ELLIE.

"Little Ellie sits alone

'Mid the beeches of a meadow,
By a stream-side on the grass;
And the trees are showering down
Doubles of their leaves in shadow,
On her shining hair and face.

"She has thrown her bonnet by;
And her feet she has been dipping

In the shallow water's flow

Now she holds them nakedly

In her hands, all sleek and dripping,
While she rocketh to and fro."

The little maiden is lost in a day-dream, and her happy smile tells that she is planning the sweetest pleasures for her future. Yonder is a swan's nest that she has discovered, and her smile grows wider as she thinks of the one to whom she will show that precious nest among the reeds.

ee e

And the steed shall be red-roan
And the lover shall be noble,

With an eye that takes the breath.
And the lute he plays upon,
Shall strike ladies into trouble,

As his sword strikes men to death.

ee e And the steed it shall be shod
All in silver, housed with azure,
And its mane shall swim the wind:
And the hoofs along the sod
Shall flash onward and keep measure,
Till the shepherds look behind.

"But my lover will not prize
All the glory that he rides in
When he gazes in my face,

He will say, 'O Love, thine eyes
Build the shrine my soul abides in ;

And I kneel here for thy grace.''

But little Ellie resolves that she will not be won too lightly. Although her heart may say "yes" to her lover's tender pleading, she will not yield it to his keeping until his courage and constancy have