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"Spring advanced rapidly; the weather became fine and the skies

cloudless. It surprised me that what before was desert and gloomy

should now bloom with the most beautiful flowers and verdure. My

senses were gratified and refreshed by a thousand scents of

delight and a thousand sights of beauty.

"It was on one of these days, when my cottagers periodically

rested from labour-the old man played on his guitar, and the

children listened to him-that I observed the countenance of Felix

was melancholy beyond expression; he sighed frequently, and once

his father paused in his music, and I conjectured by his manner

that he inquired the cause of his son's sorrow. Felix replied in

a cheerful accent, and the old man was recommencing his music

when someone tapped at the door.