THE OLD YEAR AND THE NEW.
"O, this is beautiful—beautiful indeed!" cried a young and silvery voice, musical as fairy bells heard at midnight. "How white this snowy drapery hangs upon the roofs of these bright palaces!" and the speaker, a gay boy, danced trippingly along, following in the footsteps of an old, gray-bearded man who was tottering before him.
The old man turned. "You call that snowy drapery beautiful?" said he.
"Yes—it is like the raiment of a bride," said the boy.
"To me it seems a shroud thrown over the grave of buried hopes," answered the old man.
"But what are these joy bells ringing for?" said the boy.
"For a death and for a birth!" replied the old man.
"You speak riddles."