But, sweetly as its answers will
Flatter hands of perfect skill,
It keeps its highest, holiest tone
For one beloved Friend alone."


Lyddy heard the violin and the man's voice as he talked to the child-
-heard them night after night; and when she went home to the little
brown house to light the fire on the hearth and let down the warm red
curtains, she fell into sweet, sad reveries; and when she blew out
her candle for the night, she fell asleep and dreamed new dreams, and
her heart was stirred with the rustling of new-born hopes that rose
and took wing like birds startled from their nests.



CHAPTER V



"Nor scour the seas, nor sift mankind,
A poet or a friend to find:
Behold, he watches at the door!
Behold his shadow on the floor!"
EMERSON'S Saadi.

Lyddy Butterfield's hen turkey was of a roving disposition. She had
never appreciated her luxurious country quarters in Edgewood, and was
seemingly anxious to return to the modest back yard in her native
city. At any rate, she was in the habit of straying far from home,