All in a garden fair; the simple story of three boys ... - University Library

ALL IX A GARDEN FAIR. 169
reading determined to maintain the attitude of
an outijider. He was resolved to read on as if
tlie leaflets before him were the work of another
man altogether ;
as if he had been called upon
by publishers to give an opinion on the literary
merits of the poem. lie began well, but he
could not keep up the mental position. Pre-
sently, little by little, he began to remember
the things which had been in his head, the
eflects which he desired to produce, when he
wrote down those lines. These effects were
always ambitious, so that he really read, not
tlie actual words, but the great and soaring
thoughts which had been in his heart. There
is nothing in the whole of literature so splendid
in shape and colour as the half-defined imagery
of a young man's fancy ; but it has never been
caught. And, while Allen read, it was well
that the door was shut, because he sat with
tears in his eyes, with trembling hand, and
with his heart aglow.
While he read and corrected, this short night
of June passed away, and presently he became