The wood-pigeon amidst the boughs mingled his
plaintive notes with the murmur of the falling water, and the speckled
trout sported in the pool--now displaying his glistening scales at the
surface, then suddenly and coyly hiding in some deep and dark recess.
Lady Mabel stood in silent, motionless delight, drinking in with eye,
and ear, and breath, the thrilling sensations crowding on her in this
enchanted spot. The exclamation in which Mrs. Shortridge's admiring
surprise found vent, jarred on her young companions' nerves, and
seemed to break a mystic spell.
The ladies were still wondering at the chance which had led them to
this spot, so cool, shady and refreshing after their fatigues, and so
charming in its happy grouping of wild, picturesque, and romantic
features on a miniature scale, when one of L'Isle's servants stepped
from behind the projecting crag, and spread a cloth over a large
fragment of rock, the stratified surface of its upper side making no
inconvenient table. Then, bringing forward a large basket, he lost no
time in setting forth the materials of a light but elegant repast. It
was now evident to the ladies that their arrival at this place of
refuge and delight, neighboring so closely the bare mountain-side, was
not so accidental as they had imagined, and they united in thanking
L'Isle for his foresight, and lauding his taste.
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