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30 the good dame hastened with her husband to the field in order to assist him, it being the hay season; for Martin farmed a little ground, and had the prospect of being able, not only to support his wife and child more comfortably than the neighbouring peasants, but also of laying somewhat by, every year. As they were proceeding along, he observed to his wife, that the spot which they now occupied was unusually fertile; the village itself resembling an orchard, so thickly was it studded with fruit-trees, while the ground was covered with the richest herbage and flowers. “Nay,” continued he, “every object hereabouts wears an aspect of cheerfulness; even the very cottages themselves have an air of neatness and comfort, which I have never observed in any other place. The sky has a dye of deeper, clearer blue: the woods are arrayed in a livery of a brighter verdure.”

“It is true,” returned Bridget, “but, as soon as one crosses yon stream, the appearance of the country is suddenly changed. There nature is not only wild, but absolutely bar-