Page:Forget Me Not (1824).djvu/22

It was one of those beautiful evenings which so often conclude the day, ere the refreshing coolness of spring has yielded to the fervent heats of summer, that two females, habited in the deepest mourning, left their home, and slowly proceeded down a shadowy lane, which led from their dwelling. The scene around them seemed incapable of imparting one feeling of gladness, and yet how sweetly was the landscape smiling! Nature had been refreshed by a soft vernal shower, and the birds which fluttered from tree to tree were tuning their notes to songs of grateful gladness. As they emerged from the shade of the surrounding foliage, they advanced towards a river, whose torrent was considerably swollen by the late rain; struck by the surpassing loveliness of the scene, they were induced to sit down on a fragment of rock which had fallen from the overhanging cliffs.

Twilight was fast advancing, and all around