An old man paced the guarded room, With quivering lip and brow of gloom, And his silver hair in the moonlight shone Like the grayish front of a time-worn stone; Nor voice, nor sound the still air woke, Till his burning words the silence broke: I. 'Where is the shining car And where the gorgeous train? Fled as the falling star That sunk behind the main! II. 'Where is the victor's crown? The pageant sweeping past? Gone with the thistle-down, Swept by the hurrying blast. III. 'Where is the trump of Fame That woke the startled air? 'Tis like my branded name, And like my dying prayer. IV. 'I've braved the din and strife Of many a battle-plain, And lavished strength and life; My guerdon is a chain! V. 'I brought a true heart brave, A spirit bold and free, Free as the ocean wave; My country! unto thee. VI. 'I had not thought to start Before thy stinging frown; Wo for the trusting heart! Wo for the laurel crown!' _Shelter Island_. MARY GARDINER. A VERITABLE GHOST STORY. 'There are more things in heaven and earth Than are dreamed of in our philosophy.' Some forty years since, an elderly English gentleman, who had been successful in his pursuit after wealth in the British metropolis, determined upon purchasing an estate in the country, upon which he might retire and enjoy the residue of life in unostentatious ease and quiet. He was a man of elegant tastes and fond of antiquarian pursuits. This latter predilection induced him, in his various summer journeyings in England, to select from among those old inns or taverns which are invariably to be met with in every ancient borough or market-town, the most respectable one, as the place at which he would put up; and when 'mine host' gave token of being a gentleman, his companionship would generally be requested, through a card by the waiter, bearing the compliments of the guest, with a hope that it might be convenient for the landlord to favor him with his company over a bottle of wine. This was the almost invariable plan adopted, when he was unaccompanied with his 'better half.' It will readily be conceived that in these tete-a-tete gossipings, a great fund of anecdote and legendary tales had been gleaned, which were made subservient to the entertainment of friends when assembled around the social board. It is from this fund of gossip to which I have so often listened, that I propose to select one which, owing to my close relationship to the stout gentleman, has been to me a source of no little interest, even as a 'thrice-told tale.' The incident occurred at the time when he was in search of the estate to which I have alluded in the commencement of this sketch.