All things were held in common, and what one

had was another's.

Yet under Benedict's roof hospitality seemed more abundant :

For Evangeline stood among the guests of her

father;

Bright was her face with smiles, and words of welcome and gladness

Fell from her beautiful lips, and blessed the cup as she gave it.

Under the open sky, in the odorous air of the

orchard,

Bending with golden fruit, was spread the feast of betrothal.

There in the shade of the porch were the priest

and the notary seated;

There good Benedict sat, and sturdy Basil the blacksmith.

Not far withdrawn from these, by the cider-press and the beehives,

Michael the fiddler was placed, with the gayest of hearts and of waistcoats.

Shadow and light from the leaves alternately played on his snow-white

Hair, as it waved in the wind; and the jolly face of the fiddler

Glowed like a living coal when the ashes are blown from the embers.

Gayly the old man sang to the vibrant sound of his fiddle,

Tous les Bourgeois de Chartres, and Le Carillon de Dunkerque,

And anon with his wooden shoes beat time to the

music.

Merrily, merrily whirled the wheels of the dizzy

ing dances

Under the orchard-trees and down the path to the

meadows;

Old folk and young together, and children mingled among them.

Fairest of all the maids was Evangeline, Benedict's daughter!

Noblest of all the youths was Gabriel, son of the

blacksmith !

So passed the morning away.

a summons sonorous

And lo with

Sounded the bell from its tower, and over the meadows a drum beat.

Thronged ere long was the church with men.

Without, in the churchyard,

Waited the women. They stood by the graves, and hung on the head-stones

Garlands of autumn-leaves and evergreens fresh

from the forest.

Then came the guard from the ships, and marching proudly among them

Entered the sacred portal. With loud and dis

sonant clangor

Echoed the sound of their brazen drums from ceiling and casement,

Echoed a moment only, and slowly the ponderous portal

Closed, and in silence the crowd awaited the will of the soldiers.

Then uprose their commander, and spake from the steps of the altar,

Holding aloft in his hands, with its seals, the royal commission.

"You are convened this day," he said, "by his Majesty's orders.

Clement and kind has he been; but how you have answered his kindness,

Let your own hearts reply! To my natural make and my temper

Painful the task is I do, which to you I know

must be grievous.

Yet must I bow and obey, and deliver the will of our monarch;

Namely, that all your lands, and dwellings, and cattle of all kinds

Forfeited be to the crown; and that you yourselves from this province

Be transported to other lands. God grant you may dwell there

Ever as faithful subjects, a happy and peaceable

people!

Prisoners now I declare you; for such is his Majesty's pleasure! "

As, when the air is serene in the sultry solstice

of summer,

Suddenly gathers a storm, and the deadly sling of the hailstones

Beats down the farmer's corn in the field and

shatters his windows,

Hiding the sun, and strewing the ground with thatch from the house-roofs,