The next day was splendid, as Felix had prophesied; if the winter had suddenly leaped into spring, the spring had for the moment as quickly leaped into summer.

This was an observation made by a young girl who came out of a large square house in the country, and strolled about in the spacious garden which separated it from a muddy road.

The flowering shrubs and the neatly-disposed plants were basking in the abundant light and warmth; the transparent shade of the great elms--they were magnificent trees--seemed to thicken by the hour; and the intensely habitual stillness offered a submissive medium to the sound of a distant church-bell.

The young girl listened to the church-bell; but she was not dressed for church.

She was bare-headed; she wore a white muslin waist, with an embroidered border, and the skirt of her dress was of colored muslin.