flower-room, I should out-Herod Herod in the slaughter of the innocents."

"You will not be left alone, and you will be surprised to find how
quickly the pretty mystery of life and growth will begin to reveal itself
to you."

* * * * *

As the days passed, Amy became more and more absorbed in the genial family
life of the Cliffords. She especially attached herself to the old people,
and Mr. and Mrs. Clifford were fast learning that their kindness to the
orphan was destined to receive an exceeding rich reward. Her young eyes
supplemented theirs, which were fast growing dim; and even platitudes read
in her sweet girlish voice seemed to acquire point and interest. She soon
learned to glean from the papers and periodicals that which each cared for,
and to skip the rest. She discovered in the library a well-written book on
travel in the tropics, and soon had them absorbed in its pages, the
descriptions being much enhanced in interest by contrast with the winter
landscape outside. Mrs. Clifford had several volumes on the culture of
flowers, and under her guidance and that of Webb she began to prepare for
the practical out-door work of spring with great zest. In the meantime she
was assiduous in the care of the house plants, and read all she could find
in regard to the species and varieties represented in the little
flower-room. It became a source of genuine amusement to start with a
familiar house plant and trace out all its botanical relatives, with their
exceedingly varied character and yet essential consanguinity; and she drew
others, even Alf and little Johnnie, into this unhackneyed pursuit of
knowledge.

"These plant families," she said one day, "are as curiously diverse as