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

1 82 ALL LX A GARDEN FALR.
and seized Allen by both hands, crying, ' Courage,
my pupil ! I congratulate you ; you shall be a
poet.'
It was not out of kindness. Hector, the
critic, saw the promise. Allen gasped.
' You think so ? ' he cried, with burning
cheeks and glowing eyes. ' Oh, you think
' I am siu-e,' replied the new Boileau.
I do not suppose that Allen will ever again
experience a moment—it was only one moment
—of such unalloyed, such unexpected rapture
as this. He cannot ; such happiness can only
come—once— to a very young man. The
earthly heaven recedes and disappears as one
grows older. It was a momentary glimpse of
paradise. But, the critic who opened the gates
closed them again abruptly.
' As for your verses,' he said, with incon-
ceivable cruelty, ' they are detestable. So far
as I can judge, being a Frenchman, and not an
Englishman, they are detestable.'
Allen dropped the papers out of his hand,
and turned as pale as a girl who is ' going off,'
'