How it clatters along the roofs, Like the tramp of hoofs ! How it gushes and struggles out From the throat of the overflowing spout! Across the window-pane It pours and pours; With a muddy tide, Like a river down the gutter roars 3. The sick man from his chamber looks At the twisted brooks; He can feel the cool Breath of each little pool; His fevered brain Grows calm again, And he breathes a blessing on the rain. 4. From the neighbouring school Come the boys, With more than their wonted noise And commotion; And down the wet streets Sail their mimic fleets, Till the treacherous pool And turbulent ocean. 5. In the country on every side, Where far and wide, Like a leopard's tawny and spotted hide Stretches the plain, To the dry grass and the drier grain How welcome is the rain! 6. In the furrowed land The toilsome and patient oxen stand; With their dilated nostrils spread, The clover-scented gale, And the vapours that arise From the well-watered and smoking soil. For this rest in the furrow after toil Their large and lustrous eyes Seem to thank the Lord, More than man's spoken word. A JOURNEY INTO CALABRIA. A FALSE ALARM. I took a journey into Calabria, a country full of bad fellows, who bear good-will to nobody. In these mountains, the roads are precipitous, and our horses walked with difficulty. My comrade, leading the way, struck into a path which seemed to him shorter and easier than the one we followed, and led us astray. It was my own fault. Why did I put my trust in a young fellow only twenty years of age? We tried to find our way through the woods as long as daylight lasted; but the longer we walked, the more we lost ourselves, and it was black night when we reached a house, itself as black as night. We entered not without grave suspicions, but what could we do? There we found a family of charcoal-burners seated at table, who invited us to share with them. My young friend needed no second invitation. We ate and drank-he at least. As for me, I was too much occupied with the place and the bearing of our strange hosts. Our hosts were like their trade, but the house was a perfect arsenal. On every side pistols, sabres, cutlasses, guns. Everything displeased me, and I saw too that I was not much liked. My companion, on the contrary, was like one of the family. He laughed and talked freely, and, with an indiscretion which I ought to have anticipated, he told whence we had come, where we were going, and who we were. And then, that he might leave out nothing likely to rouse their cupidity, and lead to our destruction, he acted the rich man, promising every one ample payment on the morrow. At last he spoke of his valise, begging them to take special care of it, and to put it on his bed to serve as a pillow: he wished, he said, no other. Ah, youth! youth! how much your age is to be pitied !'. My friend, I assure you, one would have thought we were carrying crown diamonds, while the object of all his solicitude about his valise was the letters of his sweetheart, with which it was stuffed. Our hosts Supper ended, we were left to ourselves. slept down stairs, we in the upper chamber where we had supped. An attic, seven or eight feet high, reached by a ladder, was our sleeping-place-a place hung with provisions to serve the year. My companion crept up alone, and being very sleepy, lay down, his head resting on his precious valise. I was determined to sit up all night and watch; and so making a good fire, I sat down near him. The greater part of the night had passed quietly, and I had begun to regain confidence, when, just before dawn, I heard below me our host and his wife discussing together; and applying my ear to the chimney, which communicated with the room below, I distinctly heard the husband say: 'Well, let us see, must we kill both of them?' To which the wife replied: 'Yes.' And after this there was silence. What shall I say? I could scarcely breathe; my body was cold as marble. If you had seen me, you could not have said whether I was dead or alive. Heavens! what a thought! We two unarmed against ten or twelve, who had arms of all kinds. My comrade dead with fatigue and sleep! To escape alone was not to be thought of! The window was not very high, but below two huge dogs were howling like wolves. Imagine if you can my horror. At last, in about a quarter of an hour, I hear on the |