Way off, between the trees and between the houses, I could see the dear old Saint meanderin' along, blue and gold colored where the sun struck the shining surface. And, dearer sight to me, I could catch a glimpse through the interstices of the trees, of my beloved pardner and little Delight in her white dress and flutterin' blue ribbons walkin' along by his side. Whitfield and Tirzah Ann had gone santerin' off some time before. The hour and the seen wuz both beautiful and soothin'. The little streets between the houses stretched out on every side, some on 'em bordered with trees. Gay awnings wuz over the doors and winders, flowering shrubs and posies set off the yards, and the piazzas ornamented by the good-lookin' folks settin' out on chairs and benches, the wimmen in light, pretty summer gowns, and there wuz babies in their perambulators perambulatin' along and pretty children runnin' and playin' about. Anon or oftener a group of good-lookin' cottagers would sally out of their houses and santer along, or a pedestrian in a hurry would walk by. It seemed like the land where it is always afternoon, that I'd hearn Thomas J. read about, The island valley of Avilion, Where falls not rain or hail or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly-- Deep meadowed, happy, fair with orchard lawns And bowery hollows, crowned by summer sea. It wuz a fair seen! a fair seen! and my soul seemed attuned to its perfect harmony and peace. When all of a sudden I hearn these strange and skairful words comin' like a sharp shower of hail from a clear June sky:-- "Malviny is goin' to _freeze_ to-night!" There wuz a skairful axent on the word "freeze" that seemed to bring all of Malviny's sufferin's right in front of me. But so strong is my common sense that even in that agitatin' time I thought to myself, as I wiped the perspiration from my foretop, "Good land! what is Malviny made of to be even comfortable cool to say nothin' of freezin'." And my next thought wuz, "What sort of a place have I got into?" Truly, I had read much of the hardenin' effects of fashion and style, but I little thought they would harden so fearful hard. None of these men and wimmen settin' on them piazzas had gin any more attention to the blood-curdlin' news that a feller creeter so nigh 'em wuz perishin', no more than if they'd seen a summer leaf flutterin' down from the boughs overhead. I thought of the rich man and Lazarus, only kinder turned round and freezin' instead of burnin'. I felt bad and queer. But anon he drew nigh the porch I wuz settin' on and looked up into my face with the same harrowin' statement, "Malviny is a-goin' to freeze to-night!" And I said, with goose pimples runnin' down my back most as bad as I mistrusted as Malviny had, "Who is Malviny?" He stopped and sez, "She is my wife."