ty
God." Little did I think that nine years later I should be amongst
them, that in this blessed Carmel I should receive so many graces.

On returning home I learnt my lessons, and then spent the rest of
the day playing in the garden near Papa. I never cared for dolls,
but one of my favourite amusements was making coloured mixtures
with seeds and the bark of trees. If the colours were pretty, I
would promptly offer them to Papa in a little cup and entice him
to taste them; then my dearest Father would leave his work and
smilingly pretend to drink. I was very fond of flowers, and amused
myself by making little altars in holes which I happened to find
in the middle of my garden wall. When finished I would run and
call Papa, and he seemed delighted with them. I should never stop
if I told you of the thousand and one incidents of this kind that
I can remember. How shall I make you understand the love that my
Father lavished on his little Queen!

Those were specially happy days for me when I went fishing with my
dear "King," as I used to call him. Sometimes I tried my hand with
a small rod of my own, but generally I preferred to sit on the
grass some distance away. Then my reflections became really deep,
and, without knowing what meditation meant, my soul was absorbed
in prayer. Far-off sounds reached me, the murmuring of the wind,
sometimes a few uncertain notes of music from a military band in
the town a long way off; all this imparted a touch of melancholy
to my thoughts. Earth seemed a place of exile, and I dreamed of
Heaven.

The afternoon passed quickly away, and it was soon time to go
home, but before packing up I would eat the provisions I had
brought in a small basket. Somehow the slices of bread and jam,
prepared by my sisters, looked different; they had seemed so
tempting, and now they looked stale and uninviting. Even such a
trifle as this made the earth seem sadder, and I realised that
only in Heaven will there be unclouded joy.

Speaking of clouds, I remember how one day when we were out, the
blue sky became overcast and a storm came on, accompanied by vivid
lightning. I looked round on every side, so as to lose nothing of
the grand sight. A thunderbolt fell in a field close by, and, far
from feeling the least bit afraid, I was delighted--it seemed that
God was so near. Papa was not so pleased, and put an end to my
reverie, for already the tall grass and daisies, taller than I,
were sparkling with rain-d