stirred with the same emotions of awe and adoration which thrilled
the worshipers of Hertha, when the veiled chariot stood in
Helgeland, and which made the groves and grottoes of Phrygia sacred
to Dindymene. Edna loved trees and flowers, stars and clouds, with a
warm, clinging affection, as she loved those of her own race; and
that solace and amusement which most children find in the society of
children and the sports of childhood this girl derived from the
solitude and serenity of nature. To her woods and fields were indeed
vocal, and every flitting bird and gurgling brook, every passing
cloud and whispering breeze, brought messages of God's eternal love
and wisdom, and drew her tender, yearning heart more closely to
Jehovah, the Lord God Omnipotent. To-day, in the boundless reverence
and religious enthusiasm of her character, she directed her steps to
a large spreading oak, now leafless, where in summer she often came
to read and pray; and here falling on her knees she thanked God for
the blessings showered upon her. Entirely free from discontent and
querulousness, she was thoroughly happy in her poor humble home, and
over all, like a consecration, shone the devoted love for her
grandfather, which more than compensated for any want of which she
might otherwise have been conscious. Accustomed always to ask
special favor for him, his name now passed her lips in earnest
supplication, and she fervently thanked the Father that his
threatened illness had been arrested without serious consequences.
The sun had gone down when she rose and hurried on in search of the
cow. The shadows of a winter evening gathered in the forest and
climbed like trooping spirits up the rocky mountain side, and as she
plunged deeper and deeper into the woods, the child began a wild
cattle call that she was wont to use on such occasions. The echoes
rang out a weird Brocken chorus, and at last, when she was growing
impatient of the fruitless search, she paused to listen, and heard