It was a pretty sight, and one that many a painter would have longed to give to bright coloured immortality, the child's face was pink with the wild joy of youth and health, and brown hair mingled as it fell with the thick whiteness of the goat's coverings, her round straw hat was thrown on one side, and a cluster of white cherry-blossoms laid carefully near it.

All suddenly, as she knelt there, Annette heard a great sound, that made her cheek pale and her hands tremble; it was not like the dashing of water, nor the heavy noise of falling earth, but something between the two,-—dull, cold, strange, and then all was still, but not for long; soon shriek after shriek arose from that lone mountain village, till it seemed as if all agony was contained in one great burst of human fear and sorrow. Oh! it was a fearful but about poor little

moment for all who dwelt there; Annette, I must tell you, before that shriek was silent, she was in her dear mother's arms, and when she again found a voice to speak, there was a gentle one to answer her; but alas, sad was the tale it had to tell.

"Annette, my child," said her mother, "God has sent us a heavy trial, the great snow-flake has fallen on our fair village, and all is in darkness now without; I was given time to come and seek you here, while many mothers have been separated from their children, and died alone; we must not despair,-look up, my child, and let us pray that help may come, and we shall yet be saved."

Annette clung to her mother as she sobbed, and prayed by turns, and that sobbing and those prayers, went straight up, out of the mighty cloud of snow that covered the beautiful

H

village of Berghêmoletto, and hushed its people, and hid its houses, unto the throne of God, in Heaven.

The night grew later, but not darker, to Annette and her mother, for now, in the bright moontime, and in the still midnight, it would be all alike, all thick darkness; but the mother and child sat close together and spoke, though they could not see one another, and from a far corner of the room were heard the quiet sighs of Pierre, who slept peacefully and well, on the turning of the goats, whose warm silky skins he had made his pillow.

Night past, and the guide's family knew it must be morning, not by the warm sunlight,-it was bitter cold there, but by the long, long hours, that had gone to make up the measure of time; and even this was comfort, for what might not morning bring. So thought Annette and her mother, but soon they felt the gnawing pains of hunger; then the little girl found her way to the white goats, and milking them, gave sweet daughts to all.

As the hours wore on, the poor goats began to make a moaning noise, and the little mistress knew they must be fed, then with joy she remembered that all the hay meant to last them through the winter, had been heaped in one corner of the stables by her father, before he left, and quickly she found it, and threw some before them.

Often as they sat there in the darkness, did Annette think of her poor silly cousin's prophecy about the snowfall, and she said to herself, "Truly these souls of God know more than we.' But as time passed on, and no help came, she feared lest all he had said should be fulfilled, and trembled to think that they might indeed end their days in the "white grave."

By degrees, this feeling passed away, and she became resigned to live or die as the Lord should see fit; she was weary of that dismal place, and only longed for release.

Thirty-six days did this poor snow encircled family dwell in darkness, in the chalêt stable, with no food, save the goat's milk and snow, changed to water by the warmth of their hands; the hay, too, was nearly gone, and when their goats died, they knew their hours would be numbered; but on the thirty-seventh day, as Annette sat and wept by her mother's side, she saw a beam of bright light fall upon the stable floor; what could it be, she knew not, but breathless wondered. A moment more, and Ulric, the father and husband, was before them, and his kind voice was cheering their sad hearts,—the bold guide had rescued them.

Some years afterwards, the traveller in Switzerland might have seen a sweet Swiss cottage half buried in lime trees, that stood near the high road to Berne, far away from dangerous mountains and huge snow flakes. In this cottage Annette and her father and her mother then dwelt; Pierre had died and gone to Heaven, but they still cared for his memory, and planted flowers on his grave.

As they stood at the threshold of this new chalêt, one quiet summer evening, watching the sun to his rest, Annette looked up, with a bright smile, in Ulric's face, as she said, "Oh! father, it was on just such a night as this you parted from me, when you had looked on our old village in the mountains for the last time, and I sorrowed then that you went away; but had you staid as I wished, we must all have died together, for none but you, father, would have ventured his life for ours. And then when all seemed dark and cheer

less, happiness came, and from beneath the cold snowfall we were taken to life and light and love once more."

"And what did I tell you when we parted that night, Annette? What does all this prove?"

That every dark cloud has a silver lining," said the child, as she covered Ulric's cheek with her warm kisses.

Short Chapters an English Bistory.

INVASION OF BRITAIN BY THE ROMANS.

T the period we were speaking of in our last chapter, there were no churches, or chapels, in Britain; but a race of men, called Druids, became their teachers and priests, on account of their learning; and these men built temples, by forming circles of stones, of such a large size, that it is difficult to say how they moved them; these are now seen in different parts of England, and are called to this day Druidical temples.

While Britain was in this ignorant and degraded state, the Romans, to whom Britain became subjected, were the richest and most powerful people on the face of the globe. They had large armies, and had conquered a great many countries, when Julius Cæsar, the Roman general, brought an army to Britain to try and conquer the natives; this was fifty years before the birth of Christ.