saw him sitting there alone; and trembling between hope and fear, she
hurried at once to her room, plucked the beautiful blossom from its stem,
and with it in her hand hastened to the library.

She moved noiselessly across the thickly carpeted floor, and her papa,
who was reading, did not seem to be aware of her approach, until she was
close at his side. He then raised his head and looked at her with an
expression of surprise on his countenance.

"Dear papa," said the little girl, in faltering accents, as she presented
the flower, "my plant is bloomed at last; will you accept this first
blossom as a token of affection from your little daughter?"

Her pleading eyes were fixed upon his face, and ere she had finished her
sentence, she was trembling violently at the dark frown she saw gathering
There.

"Elsie," said he, in the cold, stern tone she so much dreaded, "I am
sorry you have broken your flower. I cannot divine your motive--affection
for me it cannot be; for that such a feeling exists in the breast of a
little girl, who not only could refuse her sick father the very small
favor of reading to him, but would rather see him _die_ than give up her
own self-will, I cannot believe. No, Elsie, take it away; I can receive
no gifts nor tokens of affection from a rebellious, disobedient child."

The flower had fallen upon the floor, and Elsie stood in an attitude of
utter despair, her head bent down upon her breast, and her hands hanging
listlessly at her side. For an instant she stood thus, and then, with
a sudden revulsion of feeling, she sank down on her knees beside her
father's chair, and seizing his hand in both of hers, pressed it to her