She was an only child. She and her mother had lived now for two years at Braeside, a lovely country place which they had come to look on as home. Hildegarde was always happy

t-looking girls who had come to the next-door house. The house was a large, old-fashioned one; less stately than Roseholme, Colonel Ferrers' house; less home-like and comfortable, perhaps, than Braeside,-but that might only be because it had been so long uninhabited, Hildegarde thought,-yet still pleasant enough, with its tall columns and broad piazza. The house was yellow, the columns white, and the cheerful colours were set off by the dark trees, elms and locusts, that bent over it and almost hid it from the road. A smooth stretch of lawn lay between the house

de the little stream that plashed and fell in a tiny rocky hollow, or pacing up and down the grassy paths. For the child Hugh, too, this place had a singular fascination, and he would hang for hours over a certain still, brown pool at the foot of the garden, thinking unutterable things, occasionally making a remark to his dog, but for the most part silent. Knowing his ways, Hildegarde was the more surprised, on this occasion, to hear the s

re well up in front of him, his hands were clasped over them, and facing him, in precisely the s

sked the black-eyed bo

ng eyes. They look at me, and sometimes I think they l

ean what KIND of fish are they, when you catch 'em,-minnows

h. "I never thought of their n

e house allow fishing? I thought you said they were n

see them shine like silver and purple under the brown water. Sometimes they have crimson

trout, you idiot! Gimme a line! gimme a net, or something! Gimme-" He snatched off his cap, and made

thless, and stared at

ked, at length "What kind of a fell

the question be

announced, after

ness of a blue lake, where the sunbeams strike deep into it, and transfuse the clear water with light; but the eyes of th

re you? how far have you got in arithmetic? fract

said

here a n

of course one could not play with that; and there are two cricket balls that the Colonel had when he was a boy, and he says I may pl

r was dawning. "You must be loony!" he muttered. And t

r pause of reflection, "and swim, of

yes; his voice took a

to fence? You're to

s ago, and I have outgrown my first foil, and the

the C

-aunt is his housekeeper; and he is my dearest friend

ved? What makes y

y, the fencing having made a deep impression

. And my Beloved is Miss Grahame, and that is what you have to call her; bu

s and a guilty conscience, stood before the two boys. They both jumped up at once, having good manners; but Hugh's rising was

out her hand. "You are not going, are you? I think you must be one of

ust the way a bird would do if it could," Hildegarde

gh, by way of introduction. "

r my neighbour's nam

weather," said t

it is so nice to have friends of one's own age, and Hugh has no one. You, o

ther wavered, smiled, smiled again, and in five minutes they

sence of a base-ball nine was a tragic thing, not lightly to be contemplated. The h

hemselves, and all kinds of things. But then we began to come along, and at last it got so small that the boys had to sleep in the barn, and when there was more than one visitor

ildegarde, not sure how far it would

jolly; and she's in college, you know, an

ugh she had great respect for them. Dear me! Probably Bell would be very learned, and woul

heard a fresh, jo

y! W-I-Double-L

Will, starting up.

Hildegarde nodded eagerly, hoping that his request had not been heard. Just beyond the Ladies' Garden was a high board-fence which separated Braeside from the

sight of Hildegarde. "Oh, I beg your pardon!" she cried

mustn't hang by your hands that way; you'll get splinters in them. You are Miss Merryweat

tranger; but the latter, with a frank smile and a nod, drew herself up withou

t know I was trespassing, but I'm glad I came. And oh, what a lovely place! I didn't know there

ay I felt when I first saw the place. It was some time before I co

sts?" said Bell Merr

n ghosts? Haven't yo

had belonged to a cousin of her moth

er head on one side. Hildegarde decided that, though not a beauty,

wrong. The truth is less romantic, but it makes you much more real and

t you mean!" cr

ryweathe

ree, I made up a romance about you,-a pretty little romance. You are quite sure you don't mind? You were the last of an ancient family, and you were very delicate, and your mother kept you in this lovely solitude, hoping to preserve your precious life. And

and we have only been here two years, my mother and I; yet it seems like home, and I hope we shall always live here now. And are you beginning to feel at all settled in,

ny of us to decide. I want to call it Gamboge: brief, you see, and simple. But one boy says i

de, "I had a book, the dearest little boo

't you think you never could be perfectly happy till you could live in a pumpkin? And to think of my for

rs like it?" a

found the right name that we did not agree. Thank you so much, Miss Grahame! Oh, I m

e to call in due form, as soon as you are ready to receive visitors. But meanwhile, allow me to present you

re laid close together, and the two round f

l. "That is Austrian, but I have the

cans, and sometimes they are Greeks and Trojans. Will you

aid Will Merry

gn," cried Hugh, his e

arde, taking his hand, and frowning at herself for feeling anothe

cried Will. "I'll b

har

er, taking him by the shoulders a

of Marathon over beyond the stone wall!" "Turbans

e by his stalwart sister, while Hugh went away holdin

ng the trumpets. And will you bind my wounds, Beloved?" he added, looking up in Hildegarde's face. "And will you give me my shie

egarde; and they went i