d water--a flutter of soft garments as
the radiant wings cast off the crystal drops--and she was ready to meet
the full glory of the sunlight. When she thus came smiling down the
stairs that day, with the dew of life's morning fresh upon her, David
turned from the flowers.

"Yes, indeed! Isn't it a lovely frock!" she cried, running her hand
lightly over the big, puffy, short sleeve. "It is one of the last uncle
Philip had made in New Orleans, and fetched up the river. You might draw
this muslin through my smallest ring. See this dear little girdle--way
up here right under my arms--and so delicately worked in these pale blue
forget-me-nots, that look as if they were just in bloom. See!"--lifting
the gauzy skirt as a child lifts its apron--"Here is a border of the
forget-me-nots all around the bottom. But you are such a goose that you
don't know how pretty it is unless I tell you," pretending to shake him,
with trills of happy laughter. "All the same, you shall look at the
slippers, too! You shall see that the kid is as blue as the
forget-me-nots,--whether you want to or not!" drawing back the skirt and
putting out her foot.

And the boy gazing at her face, forgot his bashfulness far enough to
admire the frock and the slippers as much as she thought they deserved.
Neither of these children of the wilderness knew how unsuitable her
dress was, that it had never been intended for wearing in the morning
anywhere, or for the forest at any time. Ruth had worn only the
daintiest and finest of garments all her life, without any regard for
suitableness. From her babyhood to this day of her girlhood, it had been
Philip Alston's pride and happiness to dress her as the proudest and
richest father might dress his daughter, in the midst of the highest
civilization. Ruth knew nothing else, and those who knew her would
scarcely have known her, seeing her otherwise. It was only the few
strangers stopping at Cedar House, on their way over the Wilderness
Road, who gazed at Ruth in wondering amazement. Naturally enough, those
who had never seen her before could not at first believe the evidence of
their own dazzled eyes. To them this radiant young creature in her rich,
delicate raiment could not seem real at first; she was too lovely, too
like an enchanting vision born of the dim green shadows of the forest, a
bewitching dryad, an exquisite sprite.

Some such thoughts as these crossed the mind of Paul Colbert as he
looked at her through t