"Oh, yes," said Susan, pleased with the commission, "that I will;"
and away she ran, while Miss Fosbrook examined the spike to her own
great enjoyment. "I see," she said, "the flowers are not really
white, they each have a patch of pink or yellow on them, which gives
them their softness. Yes; and do you see, Bessie, they are in
clusters of three, and each three has one flower with a pink spot,
and two with a yellow one."

"That is very curious," said Bessie: the fretfulness was very much
gone out of her tone, and she stood looking at the beautiful flower,
without a word, till Susan came back, when she began to show her what
Miss Fosbrook had pointed out. Susan smiled with her really good
nature, and said, "How funny!" but was more intent on telling Miss
Fosbrook that she had brought the jug, and then on hauling Elizabeth
away to a game at Tom Tittler's ground.

Miss Fosbrook said she would put away the flower and come back again;
and she settled the branch in the chimney, where it looked very
graceful, and really did enliven the room, and then walked out
towards the lawn.

There was a lawn in front of the house, part of which had been
formerly levelled for a bowling-green, and was kept clear of shrubs
or flower-beds. Beyond was a smooth, rather rapid slope towards a
quiet river, beyond which there rose again a beautiful green field,
crowned above by a thick wood, ending at the top in some scraggy
pine-trees, with scanty dark foliage at the top of their rude russet
arms. Fine trees stood out here and there upon the slope of the
field; and Captain Merrifield's fine sleeked cows were licking each