conversation of her children. The only flowers in the house were in
their illuminations, and those wrought in metal and carved in wood, and
the immortal, stony flowers of many brilliant hues in their mosaics. I
began to fear that there was some superstition which made it seem wrong
to them to gather flowers, except for funeral ceremonies, and afraid of
offending from want of thought, I dropped the lily on the ground, and
said nothing about it to any one.

Then, before any more open lilies were found, an unexpected sorrow came
to me. After changing my dress on returning from the fields one
afternoon, I was taken to the hall of judgment, and at once jumped to
the conclusion that I had again unwittingly fallen into disgrace; but on
arriving at that uncomfortable apartment I perceived that this was not
the case. Looking round at the assembled company I missed Yoletta, and
my heart sank in me, and I even wished that my first impression had
proved correct. On the great stone table, before which the father was
seated, lay an open folio, the leaf displayed being only illuminated at
the top and inner margin; the colored part at the top I noticed was
torn, the rent extending down to about the middle of the page.

Presently the dear girl appeared, with tearful eyes and flushed face,
and advancing hurriedly to the father, she stood before him with
downcast eyes.

"My daughter, tell me how and why you did this?" he demanded, pointing
to the open volume.

"Oh, father, look at this," she returned, half-sobbing, and touching the
lower end of the colored margin with her finger. "Do you see how badly
it is colored? And I had spent three days in altering and retouching it,