placed the pearl ring on her finger, which he had once put on before; "you see, Alice, I have kept it; I still always had some hope that you might be mine again." They talked, it seemed to them but a very short time; but it grew dark and Mrs. Scott came in to tell her little daughter, that she thought two hours was plenty long enough for one conversation.

"I will bring my dear friend, Oriel, to see you to-morrow;" Reginald said, as he wished them good night.

Oh! how happy he felt as he walked home, he had heard the words, of which he had dreamed for months past; she was his for ever now. Yes! for if death, and he shuddered as he thought, that even that might come, should part them, would it not be only separation for a time, for had they not the same trust and faith in the Life Everlasting, and in the Communion of Saints.

The next morning he took Oriel to call, who was much struck with Alice; for though she was not by any means, regularly beautiful, yet her soft fair hair and delicate complexion, and her slight and graceful figure, gave her an exceedingly refined and interesting appearance. Reginald felt proud of her when she went up to St. John, and in her winning, gentle way (so peculiarly her own), told him how glad she was to see him, speaking more as though he had been an old friend.

"We think of going for a drive this morning to Calne. Will you and Mr. Oriel come with us, Reginald? That is, if you have no other engagement," said Mrs. Scott.

"Oh! we shall be most happy to come," answered both the young men; so it was arranged that they should spend the day in the wood, returning to the Elms to dine.

"Will you ask Mrs. Moore, if she will be able to join our party in the evening, Alice?" said her mother.

"Yes, mamma; I will put on my bonnet directly, and then I shall have time before I go to church."

"Come in when you are ready, we may as well go with you; I want to go back to the cottage," said Reginald; she did so, and after persuading Mrs. Moore to come, they all went to the morning service, and as they were walking through the churchyard, Mr. Sterne overtook them ; but after shaking Reginald's hand heartily, he waited for the others, who were somewhat behind.

The day was bright and beautiful, and they spent it most. pleasantly at Calne, where the fine old trees made a charming and cool retreat from the sun's burning rays. Alice was so happy, that her mother could not help remarking upon it to St. John.

"Ah! Mr. Oriel," she said, "you have no idea how much she suffered when she parted with Reginald, calm as she appears, a depth of feeling lies under the surface, which none would imagine her to possess; dear child, she has never given us any uneasiness excepting for her health, which is sadly delicate, but she never complains and perhaps we frighten ourselves needlessly; but it is getting late, I wonder where they are; I must go and look for them, as I think we had better be returning."

"I will go," said St. John, "do not trouble," and he soon found them, sitting beneath the shadow of a large oak tree; Alice had taken off her hat, her hair was rather disarranged, she had a bright colour on her face, and she was talking animatedly as St. John came up.

"Ah! we were speaking of you," said Reginald; " I was saying what a shame it was of me to leave you by yourself and run off in this manner. Alice, you must beg his pardon, he will grant it you, if you ask him."

"Will you, Mr. Oriel," said Alice.

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Why, I thought Reginald came home expressly to see you, at least he told me so; so it is my fault, for I knew what to expect."

"Ah! St. John," said Reginald: "you never blame me for anything, you always have an excuse for all my shortcomings; has he not Alice?"

"He certainly has to-day, Redgie; but we must make haste through the wood as mamma wants us." They soon reached the carriage, and had a cool drive home, where they spent a very pleasant evening, having a great deal of music, for they all sang very well; indeed, glee and madrigal followed each other in such quick succession, and it grew so late that Mrs. Scott begged them to desist for the sake of Alice, as she thought that she was very tired; no sooner had she said so, than Reginald reproached himself for not having noticed it himself.

The next few weeks passed in much the same manner; the mornings spent in some excursion into the country, the even

ings generally at the Elms. But Alice did not seem to get any stronger, and she suffered much from shortness of breath, which hindered her walking any distance; her father would allow himself to see no cause of alarm in these symptoms, though he said one day that if she did not get over them soon, he should take her up to London for further medical advice. St. John alone thought more seriously of them than the others did, who had known her from childhood; but still, he did not see cause enough to warrant him for saying anything to Reginald.

On the fifth Sunday after they had first come to Ashby, Mr. Sterne asked St. John to preach; he complied with his request, and taking for his text these words, "Your joy no man taketh from you," preached a most beautiful and excellent sermon.

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Redgie," said Alice, as they walked home thoughtfully together; it is very strange, but I have thought of that verse so much lately, whilst you have been at home, and we have been so happy. I have felt rather afraid, lest I should forget this earth was not our resting place; and it almost seems to me as though we were having a time of peace and quietness, something like the Pilgrims had in their journey to the heavenly city, perhaps, to fit us for the trials which may lie beyond. Do you think it is so, Redgie?"

"I do not know," Reginald answered, "but I hope there are many such happy times in store for us."

"Not on earth, we cannot expect it, Redgie."

"But dear Alice, you must not be fanciful nor look at things on the dark side: you do not mean that you are ill. and he looked at her anxiously; she looked much the same as usual, perhaps, a little paler, thin and frail she always What could she mean? he thought, and he repeated their conversation to Oriel, the next time they were alone together.

was.

She was not very well next week and was almost completely a prisoner, so Reginald had many quiet hours with her, but the languor and debility in some measure passed of, and she was soon able to go about again as usual, whilst Reginald was more than ever by her side, winning golden opinions from all, by the interest which he took in the welfare of the schools and in the affairs of the parish. St.

John, of course, the villagers liked; he was always beloved by the poor, who were won directly by his gentle manners, so courteous alike to high and low.

"I really must be going away," he said to Reginald. "Only think, I have been here quite six weeks."

"Oh, no! We cannot spare you yet," was the answer from both Mrs. Moore and her son.

"But I cannot possibly stay longer than another week. Dr. and Mrs. Pembroke want me at Anvers sadly; it was only this morning I had a letter from Mrs. Pembroke bemoaning my 'desertion of them,' as she was pleased to call it."

"Well, we will let you go then," answered Reginald; "but we shall be very sorry to part with you. I hope that you have not forgotten that to-morrow is S. Bartholomew's day, and we always have grand doings at Ashby, and a school feast, and I know not what else besides, and that you have promised to help Mr. Sterne in the morning, and make yourself generally useful to us in the afternoon. I do believe, mother, he is trying to get out of his promise, and so pretends that he is wanted at home. For shame, Oriel! I thought better of you. Oh, mother, I just recollect that I must go and see Alice directly, for she wanted me to make some arrangements for to-morrow, and, as she cannot do much herself, I have to act as her deputy, lieutenant, and Jack-of-all-trades!

(To be continued.)

NOTE ON A SINGULAR CASE OF COLOURING OF THE HUMAN HAIR.

By WILLIAM A. GUY, M.B.

[Extracted from a Letter addressed to the President of the Linnean Society.]

A turner of the name of Ford, employed by the Government to turn several thousands of round rulers for the army in the Crimea, presented himself in the laboratory of King's College one day, in great distress. He was called upon to attend a funeral, and was scandalized at his somewhat ridiculous appearance in consequence of the curious green tint

of his hair. Our people in the laboratory washed his head with all the the common re-agents which occurred to them, but without effect. Being informed of this curious fact, and being interested in it as having some sort of bearing on the question of identification, I called on Mr. Ford, and found him in the state described. His hair, which is naturally a light chesnut, was changed, except towards the roots, of a bright yellowgreen, with a very decided and curious green tint. His children, whose hair is of a similar tint, were similarly affected. He told me that his hair and that of his family had always been affected in the same way when engaged in turning rulers from the wood known as green ebony-a wood, as he says, generally used for that purpose. His wife's hair, which is black, is not subject to any change. The exposed parts of the skin undergo the same change of colour, as does the urine. He also told me that one of his children was born with a very remarkably deep-green tinted skin, which disappeared in time. As one of our porters passes Broad Street, I send you a specimen I have had put up, showing a bit of the wood, a tubefull of turnings, and three specimens of hair-the two on the left showing the natural colour of the hair of Mr. Ford and one of his children, the specimens on the right the same hair coloured by the wood, and a single specimen from his own head, showing the usual colour at the root, and the green tint towards the points. The appearance of the whole head, and the contrast of the roots with the rest of the hair, are much more striking than the specimen itself might lead you to expect.

King's College, London,

January 27th, 1857.

Poetry.

THE VILLAGE CHURCH BELL.

SOUNDS the Church Bell hopefully,

Thro' the soft spring air;

Telling of joy and blessing

For those who worship there.