lowers
that he gave me in exchange for the wild daffodils--and how he seemed
to care for the flowers I gave him--and how he looked at me, and
thanked me--that is all gone and over now."

Her sisters came in bright and glowing.

"Oh, Jemima, how nice and cool you are, sitting in this shady room!"
(She had felt it even chilly.) "We have been such a long walk! We are
so tired. It is so hot."

"Why did you go, then?" said she.

"Oh! we wanted to go. We would not have stayed at home on any
account. It has been so pleasant," said Mary.

"We've been to Scaurside Wood, to gather wild strawberries," said
Elizabeth. "Such a quantity! We've left a whole basketful in the
dairy. Mr Farquhar says he'll teach us how to dress them in the way
he learnt in Germany, if we can get him some hock. Do you think papa
will let us have some?"

"Was Mr Farquhar with you?" asked Jemima, a dull light coming into
her eyes.

"Yes; we told him this morning that mamma wanted us to take some old
linen to the lame man at Scaurside Farm, and that we meant to coax
Mrs Denbigh to let us go into the wood and gather strawberries," said
Elizabeth.

"I thought he would make some excuse and come," said the quick-witted
Mary, as eager and thoughtless an observer of one love-affair as
of another, and quite forgetting that, not many weeks ago, she had
fancied an attachment between him and Jemima.

"Did you? I did not," replied Elizabeth. "At least I never thought
about it. I was quite startled when I heard his horse's feet behind
us on the road."

"He said he was going to the farm, and could take our basket. Was not
it kind of him?" Jemima did not answer, so Mary continued:

"You know it's a great pull up to the farm, and we were so hot
already. The road was quite white and baked; it hurt my eyes
terribly. I was so glad when Mrs Denbigh said we might turn into the
wood. The light was quite green there, the branches are so thick
overhead."

"And there are whole beds of wild strawberries," said Elizabeth,
taking up the tale now Mary was out of breath. Mary fanned herself
with her bonnet, while Elizabeth went on:

"You know where the grey rock crops out, don't you, Jemima? Well,
there was a complete carpet of strawberry runners. So pretty! And we
could hardly step without treading the little bright scarlet berries
under foot."

"We did so wish for Leonard," put in Mary.

"Yes! but Mrs Denbigh gathered a great many for him. And Mr Farquhar
gave h