e young lady
bound a wreath of field flowers, "Everything in its right place," and
the flowers formed a pretty whole. At the same time she heard every
word that was spoken, and she liked to hear the clergyman's son talk
of the power of nature and of the great men and women in history. She
had a good hearty disposition, with true nobility of thought and
soul, and a heart full of love for all that God hath created.

[Illustration: THE OLD WILLOW TREE.]

The party came to a halt at the old willow tree. The youngest baron
insisted on having such a flute cut for him from it as he had had made
of other willows. Accordingly the tutor broke off a branch.

"Oh, don't do that!" cried the young baroness; but it was done
already. "That is our famous old tree," she continued, "and I love it
dearly. They laugh at me at home for this, but I don't mind. There is
a story attached to this tree."

And she told what we all know about the tree, about the old mansion,
the pedlar and the goose-girl, who had met for the first time in this
spot, and had afterwards become the founders of the noble family to
which the young barons belonged.

"They would not be ennobled, the good old folks!" she said. "They kept
to the motto 'Everything in its right place;' and accordingly they
thought it would be out of place for them to purchase a title with
money. My grandfather, the first baron, was their son: he is said to
have been a very learned man, very popular with princes and
princesses, and a frequent guest at the court festivals. The others at
home love him best; but, I don't know how, there seems to me something
about that first pair that draws my heart towards them. How
comfortable, how patriarchal it must have been in the old house, where
the mistress sat at the spinning-wheel among her maids, and the old
master read aloud from the Bible!"

"They were charming, sensible people," said the clergyman's son; and
with this the conversation naturally fell upon nobles and citizens.
The young man scarcely seemed to belong to the citizen class, so well
did he speak concerning the purpose and meaning of nobility. He said,

"It is a great thing to belong to a family that has distinguished
itself, and thus to have, as it were, in one's blood, a spur that
urges one on to make progress in all that is good. It is delightful to
have a name that serves as a card of admission into the highest
circles. Nobility means that which is great and noble: it is a coi