VII. A moment only he feels the spell Of the place and the hour, the secret dread Of the lonely belfry and the dead; For suddenly all his thoughts are bent VIII. Meanwhile, impatient to mount and ride, Now gazed at the landscape far and near, IX. And lo! as he looks, on the belfry's height X. A hurry of hoofs in a village street, A shape in the moonlight, a bulk in the dark, That was all! And yet, through the gloom and the light, The fate of a nation was riding that night; And the spark struck out by that steed, in his flight, XI. It was twelve by the village clock, When he crossed the bridge into Medford town. And the barking of the farmer's dog, XII. It was one by the village clock, Swim in the moonlight as he passed, And the meeting-house windows, blank and bare, Gaze at him with a spectral glare, As if they already stood aghast At the bloody work they would look upon. XIII. It was two by the village clock, When he came to the bridge in Concord town. He heard the bleating of the flock, And the twitter of birds among the trees, XIV. You know the rest. In the books you have read How the British regulars fired and fled,— How the farmers gave them ball for ball, From behind each fence and farm-yard wall, Chasing the red-coats down the lane, Then crossing the fields to emerge again And only pausing to fire and load. XV. So through the night rode Paul Revere; And so through the night went his cry of alarm A cry of defiance and not of fear,— A voice in the darkness, a knock at the door, In the hour of darkness and peril and need, And the midnight message of Paul Revere. H. W. LONGFELLOW. XI.-HANDSOME IS THAT HANDSOME DOES. "H ANDSOME is that handsome does,-hold up your heads, girls!" was the language of Primrose in the play when addressing her daughters. The worthy matron was right. What is good-looking, as Horace Smith remarks, but looking good? Be good, be womanly, be gentle,―generous in your sympathies, heedful of the well-being of all around you; and, my word for it, you will not lack kind words of admiration. Loving and pleasant associations will gather about you. 2. Never mind the ugly reflection which your glass may give you. That mirror has no heart. But quite another picture is yours on the retina of human sympathy. There the beauty of holiness, of purity, of that inward grace which passeth show, rests over it, softening and mellowing its features just as the calm moonlight melts those of a rough landscape into harmonious loveliness. 3. "Hold up your heads, girls!" I repeat after Primrose. Why should you not? Every mother's daughter of you can be beautiful. You can envelop yourselves in an atmosphere of moral and intellectual beauty, through which |