A Colonial Wooing
What more could a woman want? "Had they not a home, and food and clothing in abundance?" he had been known to remark on more than one occasion, but he never gave a thought to the fact that the yarn was spun, the food prepared, while he was leisurely discussing with his neighbors the affairs of the meeting. But Matthew was neither lazy nor heartless, nor his wife given to complaining. It was merely an instance of a woman's unspoken thoughts not always according with her husband's expressed convictions.
Sauntering down this pleasant lane came Ruth with her two brothers, and when she felt sure she was quite out of hearing she slowly sang, to the boys delight,—
Reclined beside the crystal rill,
When all is lonely, all is still,
Save wild birds' songs from yonder hill,
Oh, let me muse in secrecy.
Here let me in these shades reclined
Forget the ills I left behind,
That love was vain or friends unkind,
That fortune looked not smilingly.
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