cheek pale with fear. She gasped, and could not speak, but pointed to the window with trembling finger. Their eyes followed hers, and there in the twilight crouched a dark form with eyes like glowworms.
It was the leopard!
THE THREE MAIDENS.
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There were three maidens met on the highway;
The sun was down, the night was late:
And two sang loud with the birds of May,
“O the nightingale is merry with its mate.”
Said they to the youngest, “Why walk you there so still?
The land is dark, the night is late:”
“O, but the heart in my side is ill,
And the nightingale will languish for its mate.”
Said they to the youngest, “Of lovers there is store;
The moon mounts up, the night is late:”
“O, I shall look on no man more,
And the nightingale is dumb without its mate.”
Said they to the youngest, “Uncross your arms and sing;
The moon mounts high, the night is late:”
“O my dear lover can hear no thing,
And the nightingale sings only to its mate.
“They slew him in revenge, and his true-love was his lure:
The moon is pale, the night is late:
His grave is shallow on the moor;
O the nightingale is dying for its mate.
“His blood is on his breast, and the moss-roots at his hair:
The moon is chill, the night is late:
But I will lie beside him there:
O the nightingale is dying for its mate.
“Farewell, all happy friends, and my parents kiss for me;
The morn is near, the night is late:
He bids me come, and quiet be,
O the nightingale is dying for its mate.”
OUR FARM OF TWO ACRES.
THE POULTRY-YARD.
