"
William bowed respectfully, and sighed.
"Ha! thou hast lost them, sure enough, and it may not be quite so
fair to smile at thy quandary," quoth Sir Thomas.
"I did my best the first time," said Willy, "and fell short the
second."
"That, indeed, thou must have done," said Sir Thomas. "It is a
grievous disappointment, in the midst of our lamentations for the
dead, to find ourselves balked. I am curious to see how thou
couldst help thyself. Don't be abashed; I am ready for even worse
than the last."
Bill hesitated, but obeyed:-
"And art thou yet alive?
And shall the happy hive
Send out her youth to cull
Thy sweets of leaf and flower,
And spend the sunny hour
With thee, and thy faint heart with murmuring music lull?
"Tell me what tender care,
Tell me what pious prayer,
Bade thee arise and live.
The fondest-favoured bee
Shall whisper nought to thee
More loving than the song my grateful muse shall give."
Sir Thomas looked somewhat less pleased at the conclusion of these
verses than at the conclusion of the former, and said, gravely, -
"Young man! methinks it is betimes that thou talkest of having a
muse to thyself; or even in common with others.
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