ELSIE DINSMORE

BY

MARTHA FINLEY




CHAPTER FIRST


"I never saw an eye so bright,
And yet so soft as hers;
It sometimes swam in liquid light,
And sometimes swam in tears;
It seemed a beauty set apart
For softness and for sighs."
--MRS. WELBY.


The school-room at Roselands was a very pleasant apartment; the
ceiling, it is true, was somewhat lower than in the more modern
portion of the building, for the wing in which it was situated
dated back to the old-fashioned days prior to the Revolution,
while the larger part of the mansion had not stood more than
twenty or thirty years; but the effect was relieved by windows
reaching from floor to ceiling, and opening on a veranda which
overlooked a lovely flower-garden, beyond which were fields and
woods and hills. The view from the veranda was very beautiful, and