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The traveler was shown into one of the small upper
rooms of the hunter's dwelling, where he found a comfortable
and very clean bed prepared for him. Without
delay he threw off his clothes and soon forgot in deep
slumber the fatigue and the incidents of the day.

He was aroused at a very early hour by the barking of
dogs and the winding of a horn, under the little window
of his chamber. Then the hoofstrokes of a horse were
heard; and finally the notes of the horn and the yelping
of the dogs, receded from him and died away gradually
in the distance. He rose, and looking through the window
saw the tall form of hunter John, mounted on his
enormous steed, and followed by his dogs, disappearing
among the pines of the mountain side. He was going to
hunt his buck.

The traveler dressed and descended. At the foot of
the stairs he met his hostess who gave him a fair good-morning,
and busily set about preparing breakfast, in
which she was assisted by a small negro girl. Her guest
strolled down toward the brook.

He was standing on its bank and admiring the fresh
morning light scattered upon the waves, the mountain
pines, and the green-topped knolls of the glen, when all
at once he perceived the daughter of his host beneath him
in a little green nook which a large mossy rock separated

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from the more open part of the banks. She was seated
on a part of this rock which projected over the stream,
and with bare feet, was playing with the water, and apparently
lost in thought. Beside her lay two small shoes
and a pair of stockings which she had, it seemed, just removed
from her feet.

The traveler walking on the soft moss approached her
silently and touched her shoulder. The girl started up,
coloring and hiding her feet.

“My goodness, sir! how you frightened me!” she said.

“I am not such an awful personage am I?” he asked,
smiling.

“No, sir,” the girl replied with a laugh, while she
busied herself—turned away from the stranger—in putting
on her shoes and stockings, “but you came so sudden.”

“You were washing your feet, were you?”

She looked down.

“I'm sorry I disturbed you in such a praiseworthy employment.”

“Oh, it's no matter,” she replied pouting, “I wasn't
washing my feet. I just came down here.”

“Come now we won't quarrel, Miss Sally,” said the
stranger dropping his sarcastic tone, “I was only joking,
and you'll find I never mean any thing, as I shall, I hope,
see you often.”

“Are you coming to our frolic, sir?”

“Oh, yes.”

“It is this evening, remember.”

“How can I forget it—but excuse me, I am again at
my foolish ceremony. Come, let us go back to breakfast.
Will you take my arm—or here is my hand.”

The young girl took the proffered arm, and they returned
toward the house.

“It is a beautiful morning,” the stranger said, “those
tall pines in the bright sun are grander than any thing

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of Poussin's, and the air is as pure and delightful as possible.
Only one thing is needed, Miss Sally—a song.”

“Well, sir,” said the girl, who had by this time become
more familiar with her father's guest, and less embarrassed
in his presence, “I will sing for you, if I can. What do
you like?”

“Do you sing Scottish songs? I prefer them to all
others.”

“And so do I, sir. Oh, they are so sweet!”

“Sing me `Auld Robin Gray.”'

“I'll try, sir; that is one of my favorites,” said Sally;
and in a clear, birdlike voice, she went through the ballad.

“An excellent soprano,” muttered the stranger to himself,
with a smile, “he's gone beyond hope. Very well.”

“What did you say?”

“This is such a beautiful song.”

“Very, sir.”

“And it is so true. Now tell me,” he said, laughing,
“would you like to marry an Auld Robin of that sort?”

“No, never,” said Sally Myers, with uncommon emphasis,
“I'd never marry such a person, as long as I
lived!”

The stranger laughed.

“And pray, what sort of a person would you marry?”
he said.

“That is my business,” she replied, coloring and laughing,
with a bright glance at the stranger.

“What do you think of light hair and beard?”

“I prefer dark hair, sir.”

The stranger laughed so heartily at this, that he could
not for several minutes command his voice.

“No personal reflections, I hope, Miss Sally,” he said;
“now my hair and beard are light!”

In this strain they ran on in merry talk, until they
reached the house—Sally's natural gayety and ease

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having by this time entirely returned, under the genial
effect of the stranger's hearty and good-humored manner.

They found breakfast nearly ready, and the table being
set in a trice by the girl, who blamed herself for idling
at the brook—“though he had made her stay,” she said,
laughing, and pointing to the stranger—they soon sat
down to an excellent and plentiful meal.

Half an hour afterward, Doctor Thomas was again
mounted, and on his way down the valley. He would certainly
return to the merry-making that evening, he said.

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