A CARNIVAL ADVENTURE.

gave me unnatural strength and power of endurance.
I gained confidence as I proceeded. The limb surged
and swayed with my exertions, as if every instant its
frail limb would sever, but it held out so long that I
began to look upon myself as past danger. At last I
could clasp my knees to the limb, and, in a few
moments more, reached and threw myself upon ano-
ther branch-safe!

I could see that Lucy had fainted-so I rapidly descended and flew to her side. A little water restored her-and she began to laugh and weep alternately. We went home together, with my arm around her waist.

71

She was silent and different from what I had ever seen
her before.

Somehow, Lucy was not the same to me after this
grown afraid
event. She stopped teasing me. Had she
of me? Scarcely, for we took long walks together,
grew mutually fond of moonlight (what more significant
sign?) and read the poets together.

I wound my arms around her waist one day, and looked
"Lucy," said I, "shall it be so ?"
down into her eyes.
Lucy knew what I meant, if the reader does not.
Lucy said that it might be: and so I have another name
for Cousin Lucy now.

A CARNIVAL ADVENTURE IN MILAN

THE following story, though imbued with an air of strictly true. The incidents occurred nearly as they are romance which may seem to impart to it the character here narrated, and the persons who took part in them of fiction, is nevertheless (at least in all its main points), lived and moved and had their being, not many years

"Very true, Zerbina-there is no help for it; so, well or ill, I suppose I must sing la Mascherata to-night!" So saying, the fair cantatrice rose from her chair, and standing before her looking-glass, proceeded to give theme that we might perhaps exchange characters, and finishing touch to the arrangement of her hair. Whilst she was thus engaged, a ring at the bell announced the arrival of a visitor.

"I have no inclination to avail myself of any such sacrifice," replied the Signora proudly. "I am devoted to my profession, and am quite content to live and die a prima donna. But with regard to this evening's performance, to confess the truth, I am not particularly desirous of making my first courtsey to a Milanese audience to-night. I am somewhat indisposed, and my voice is not in such good condition as I could desire on the occasion of a début. In short, I have several good reasons for wishing that some one else could be found to play the part for me."

endowed with self-command, and your countenance in- | existence I would willing surrender all the advantages dicates that easy pliancy of disposition which readily of mine." accommodates itself to circumstances. I, on the contrary, have been throughout life the victim of enthusiastic and ardent feeling. A flighty imagination continually disposes me to break through the barriers of my rank, and to wander into the regions of romance and adventure. My passion for music and for the drama has inspired me with a strong desire to appear on the stage-a course to which my family connections naturally present obstacles. Now, dear Signora Antonina, it is in your power to assist in gratifying my long-cherished wish, and thereby to confer on me a favor, for which, be assured, you shall not find me ungrateful. All I ask of you is, that you will allow me to play your part in the opera to-night."

"My part in the opera!" repeated Antonina, with amazement. "My part at La Scala! Do I understand you rightly, Madame ?"

"Perfectly. My request is, that instead of making your debut to-night, you will afford me the opportunity of making mine."

Antonina, almost bewildered with astonishment, stamered out the words

"Pardon me, Madame-you are jesting, I presume but I am at a loss to comprehend the motive."

"Then the point is settled," exclaimed the lady, exultingly rising from her seat.

Antonina smiled at the self-confidence of her visitor, who was, to all appearance, perfectly insensible to the difficulties of the task she was so anxious to undertake. The prima donna therefore expected to create no little embarrassment when she asked the stage-struck heroine whether she had bestowed any time on the study of the part she wished to appear in.

Without making any reply, the lady took her seat at the piano, and after trying some passages in two or three different keys, sang with a clear powerful voice, faultless intonation and finished execution, an exceedingly difficult scena from La Mascherata.

"Dio vero!" exclaimed the astonished Antonina. "What an organ! what flexibility! what style! How did you learn to sing this difficult music in such perfection? For myself, I have been studying the part laboriously for months, and yet I have never succeeded in getting quite smoothly through the passage which you have just performed with such perfect ease and accuracy."

"I am not jesting," answered the stranger emphatically, and with great excitement of manner. "I am quite serious; though possibly you cannot understand the whim-the mania, if you choose to call it so that possesses me. During the last seven years, I have been the reigning queen of fashion in the gayest cities of Europe, where I have enjoyed every amusement which society can offer, and every triumph which vanity can desire. At length I have become weary alike of the gratifications and annoyances of my much-envied posi- "Well, you are now satisfied that I can sing," said the tion. But there is one pleasure-one triumph-to which | lady, rising from the piano with a self-complacent air: I am yet a stranger, and for which my spirit yearns. feel an ungovernable desire to share the excitement and the glory which attend a heroine of the operatic stage! You smile, Signora ;-but had I been born in a sphere less elevated than that which fate has assigned to me, the profession to which you belong would have been my vocation; and, what is more, I feel within the sort of energy and inspiration which would have enabled me to subdue triumphantly the countless difficulties which attend such a career."

I" and I do not hesitate to say that I can go through the whole part, from beginning to end, without a failure. You may rest assured that the success of the opera will not be marred by my performance."

"Madame," coolly answered Antonina, after a short pause, "I fully understand and appreciate your enthusiasm for the art to which I myself am ardently devoted. But do not be offended if I observe that enthusiasm, though a most desirable quality, is not the only one requisite to insure success. In spite of all your earnest feelings and enthusiastic confidence, I am disposed to think that the realisation of your wish is utterly impossible."

"The impossibility rests solely on your refusal," exclaimed the stranger with increased energy. 66 Signora Antonina, if you will accede to my request, there is no sacrifice I will not readily make to requite you. I declare to you sincerely, that for two hours of your

Antonina was silent, and could almost have persuaded herself that what she had heard was the mere illusion of a dream.

"During the last three weeks," continued the lady, "that is to say, ever since the Mascherata has been announced at La Scala, I have practised the principal part several times every day. The object of this unremitting assiduity was to realise my wish of appearing on the stage. In the practice of the trios and concerted pieces, I have been assisted by several of my friends, amateurs like myself. Even the choruses have not been left untried. In short, I have had the most labored rehearsals under the semblance of musical soirées. The result is, I am thoroughly prepared to present myself to the public, if you will give me leave to be your substitute to-night. My scheme has not been arranged without forethought, and I have not chosen La Scala, and the Mascherata for my début without due consideration. This being my first visit to Milan, I am less known here than in any other capital of Europe, and the Mascherata being a

Whilst she who was undesignedly the cause of all this distress, was vainly endeavoring to assuage it, Zerbina entered the room, having in her hand several letters, which she presented to her mistress. Antonina, perused two or three of the missives, which contained declarations of love couched in the most impassioned terms;— then, throwing them into the lap of her companion, she said, in a tone of affected indifference which ill disguised her mortification, “There, madame, it is but just that you should enjoy all your triumphs! Accept the homage addressed to you under my name!"

Carnival piece, I shall have the advantage of performing | tion of your triumph will pursue me, and paralyse all in a demi-mask. I shall be required to unmask only my efforts! Alas! what misfortunes have I brought for a moment in the last scene; and it will be very ex-upon myself by my folly!" traordinary, if, during that short moment, any one should recognize me. However, I will boldly run the risk, for few things are more improbable than the chance of my being discovered. As I am obliged to leave Milan in a day or two, I must resign the part to you on the second night of performance; and when we hear it remarked (as doubtless we shall), that Antonina sang much better on the second night than on the first, you and I may laugh in our sleeves at the simplicity of the manager and the public. In personal appearance, it is true, we are in some respects dissimilar: for instance, my hair is much lighter than yours,-I have blue, and you dark The lady began to read one of the letters. Whilst eyes; but such little differences are scarcely discernible perusing it, a smile of satisfaction lighted up her counon the stage. On the other hand, we are as nearly as tenance, and she exclaimed joyfully: "Dear Antonina, possible of equal height, and our figures are similar; dry up your tears. There is an epistle which affords me your dresses will fit me accurately enough, and as to an opportunity of making atonement for all the uneasicomplexion and features, stage illusion will doubtlessness I have innocently caused you. Now you may take sufficiently account for them."

Next morning nothing was talked of in Milan but the brilliant début of Signora Antonina. Never had so fine a voice been heard within the walls of La Scala never had so charming an actress trod the stage. Whilst her features were concealed by the mask, every note that flowed from her mellifluous voice elicited admiration and applause; but when, in the last scene, she raised her mask, and the charms of beauty were added to the attractions of talent, the whole audience rose with one accord, and a shower of bouquets descended at the feet of the prima donna. As soon as the curtain dropped, a crowd of gentlemen had rushed to her box: but to their great surprise and regret they were informed that she had suddenly quitted the theatre. However, this modest withdrawal from public notice had served only to increase the enthusiasm of her admirers. Serenades had been performed beneath her windows until a late hour of the night; and not a few fierce wrangles had taken place in the cafés among very young gentlemen who had fallen desperately in love at first sight with the new divinity.

*

Whilst the whole city was agitated by these exciting events, a scene of another kind was taking place in the boudoir of Signora Antonina. She was reclining on a sofa, weeping bitterly, and beside her sat the triumphant debutante of the preceding night, vainly endeavoring to console her.

"How inconsiderate was I," exclaimed Antonina, "to consent to this deception-and how cruel in you to tempt me to it! Your vanity and folly have ruined all my future prospects. I cannot now venture to appear in Milan. I should only be laughed at-perhaps, even hissed off the stage. But, wherever I go, the recollec

your revenge!"

"My revenge," said the prima donna eagerly seizing the billet, from which she read aloud the following lines:

"Divine Antonina-Your lovely image haunts my thoughts. The tones of your enchanting voice incessantly vibrate through my heart! If you will vouchsafe to accept my hand, and to share my rank and fortune, step into the carriage which will this evening be waiting at the door of your residence, and repair to the Court of Berlin with your admiring humble servant,

"BARON VON REICHSBERG.'”

"How often misfortune proves the forerunner of good luck," said the lady. "Just now, Signora, you were blaming me for having blighted your fair prospects. But the proposal conveyed in this note, which I gladly transfer to you, makes ample atonement for any injury you may imagine I caused you in your professional capacity. Hesitate not to accept the hand of the Baron, whom I know to be a man of high character. He is at present engaged in some diplomatic capacity in the service of his sovereign the King of Prussia. He possesses an ample fortune, and I feel convinced that he is in all respects calculated to ensure your future happiness. He, it cannot be doubted, will have good reason to congratulate himself on becoming the husband of the real, instead of the pretended Antonina. Hold yourself in readiness, therefore, to join the Baron at the time appointed: and should he chance to remark any difference between you and the Mascherata, remember that it is perfectly natural and easy to account for it by the effect of stage illusion."

With these words the unknown lady hastily bade adieu to Antonina, who, fully consoled for her recent mortification, joyfully began to prepare for her journey

to Berlin.

The second performance of the Mascherata, which had been announced for the following evening, was unavoidably postponed. The doors of La Scala were

closed; the impresario having received the mortifying | escorted. After the ladies had enchanted the company intelligence that his prima donna had eloped with a by their exquisite singing of the grand duo from Norma, German baron.

the Baroness drew her friend aside, and briefly described her journey from Milan to Berlin, in the course of which she succeeded in convincing Baron Von Reichsberg how completely stage illusion may mislead both the eyes and ears.

In the following winter, two distinguished beauties engrossed general admiration in the fashionable salons of Paris. One was the Baroness Antonina Von Reichsberg, and the other was the accomplished Marquise de Before they parted, the ladies reciprocally promised C. One evening when these ladies met unexpect-inviolable secrecy respecting the events which had edly at a splendid party in the Faubourg Saint Germain, they both started with astonishment; and presently the Marquise, whilst whispering a few words of congratulation in the ear of the Baroness, glanced significantly at the portly German diplomatist by whom she was narrated.

occurred at Milan. The Marquise probably kept her vow, but it appears the Baroness Von Reichsberg was not equally discreet; for her disclosures have been quoted as a guarantee for the truth of the facts above

THE BLACK MADONNA.

A LEGEND.

of other mothers, and the pride of his own; and he was, indeed, an object of love and envy. Healthful, well-made, and handsome, and of a tender and noble physiognomy which seemed to promise both goodness and greatness for the future.

WHEN one goes to Chartres, or rather, when one and indeed Nature herself, had made this boy the envy passes that place, after having traversed the monotonous and vast plains of Beauce, it may happen, that to enliven your spirits, you have to await for three hours the diligence which should meet the one by which you came from Paris. Railways will soon put an end to this nuisance, but at present, should it happen, and if, in the midst of the bad temper which the above announcement (made with the coolest possible manner by the superintendent of the Messageries) is sure to throw you, you should stamp and turn round, and, in so doing, catch a glimpse through the trees of the two clocktowers of the cathedral, I congratulate you. That giimpse will repay the waiting, and the ill-temper.

Among other qualities with which this boy was endowed, was a voice as pure and angelic as ever had been heard; and his mother taught him some sacred songs, breathing forth love and filial affection, which, when he sang them, used, from their very sweetness, to draw tears, not only from the eyes of his mother, but also from those of the few friends who remained to her.

So it happened that when the month of August came round, the Bishop of Chartres himself, who had heard of the fame of this little fellow's singing, came to ask the widow to let her son sing at the most solemn feast of the Virgin, and the good bishop said, that his beauty, the openness of his countenance, the sweetness and goodness of his nature, and the sweet purity of his voice, in which he so nearly approached the angels, could not but be pleasing to the Virgin herself, and could not fail to touch the hearts of the children, and the mothers who would assist at the fête.

I am going to tell a story-not to give any description of the cathedral. But, in addition to its architecture, and to the extraordinary length of nave, it also possesses, more than any church which I have seen, that quality which inspires at once a feeling of mysticism and of ardent devotion. The building, which is so pierced and fretted that it admits light like a piece of lace-work, is remarkable for the beauty, the size, and the painted glass of its windows; for the carving which surrounds the nave; and for its mosaic pavement, the windings of which are such that they can be traced by the devout On the day of the Assumption, therefore, the widow for many a mile without going out of the cathedral—a | having granted the request, forgot for awhile the seclupilgrimage which is often performed, and to which are attached certain indulgences. But that which I have more immediately to speak of is, that there is a chapel in the cathedral, wherein, night and day, waxen lights are burning before the figure of a Black Madonna, richly clothed, and sparkling with precious stones. She is called our "Lady of Miracles," and the ornaments with which she is adorned are each a testimony of gratitude from those who have had recourse to her intercession.

Many years ago, there lived at Chartres a young widow, who, rejecting all offers of a second match, devoted the remainder of her youth and beauty to a son, upon whom also rested all that love which she once bore to her husband. The careful tending of his mother,

sion she had lived in; laid aside her mourning, which she had ever worn since her husband died, and almost reassumed the airs of a young and pretty woman, as she prepared herself and her son for the ceremony.

After the procession had stopped before the altar of the Virgin, and whilst the nave was filled with the solemn pealing of the organ, the choir children ceased for a moment from casting flowers upon the altar, and the widow's son, clothed in a white tunic, with his long hair falling on his shoulders, bound round with a blue fillet, advanced from the midst of a crowd of boys of his own age. He knelt before the altar of the Virgin, and then raised his fine blue eyes, sparkling with emotion, to the shrine. Then it was, when the congregation scarcely breathed, and all were silent in holy expec