Captain Atherton's new home was a blaze of light, and every room was
decorated with a wealth of greenery, and glowing blossoms.

Mimic butterflies hovered among the flowers, and soft music sounded
through the halls. Silvery bells were vying with the triangle in
producing tinkling tones that chimed in sweet accord with the melody
that the strings were playing.

At one end of the spacious parlor a tiny grove of palms and tall shrubs
looked as if transplanted from out of doors.

Captain Atherton, tall and handsome, greeted his little friends gaily,
and when all had arrived, he led them toward the grove.

"Wait here a moment," he said, "and see what happens. This is an
enchanted grove, and a sweet enchantress is in hiding here.

"Come forth, oh lady fair,
Dear spirit of the air,
We long to see thy face,
Thy form of airy grace.
Some things we long to know
Thou well can'st tell, I trow."

For a moment not a sound save the soft music was heard. Then,--a
rustling as of silken draperies, or like wind among the leaves, and
the branches parted, and Iris Vandmere, radiant, smiling, extended her
pretty hands in greeting. Clad in softest silk gauze in lilac, and
ivory white, she suggested the blossom for which she was named. Like