to herself
that she liked the change, and for the first time a conscious feeling of
active dislike to Flower took possession of her. What right had this
strange girl to come and take the lead in everything? No, she was
neither very pretty nor very agreeable; she was a conceited,
ill-tempered, proud creature, and it was Polly's duty, of course it was
Polly's duty, to see that she was not humored. Was there anything so
unreasonable and monstrous as her dislike to poor little Maggie? Poor
little harmless Maggie, who had never done her an ill-turn in her life.
Really David had been too absurd when he proposed that Maggie should be
sent home. David was a nice boy enough, but he was not to suppose that
every one was to bow down to his Queen Flower. Ridiculous! let her go
into passions if she liked, she would soon be tamed and brought to her
senses when she had been long enough in England.

Polly worked herself up into quite a genuine little temper of her own,
as she thought, and she now resolved, simply and solely for the purpose
of teasing Flower, that Maggie should dine with them all, and have a
seat of honor near herself. When she had carelessly thought of her
coming to the picnic, she, of course, like all the others, had intended
that Maggie and George should eat their dinner together after the great
meal was over; and even Helen shook her head now when Polly proposed in
her bright audacious way that Maggie should sit near her, in one of the
best positions, where she could see the light flickering through the
ivy, which nearly covered the beautiful west window.

"As you like, of course, Polly," responded Helen. "But I do think it is
putting Maggie a little out of her place. Perhaps father won't like it,
and I'm sure Flower won't."

"I'll ask father myself, when he arrives," answered Polly, choosing to
ignore the latter part of Helen's speech.

The banqueting-hall, which was a perfect ruin at one end, was still
covered over at the other. And it was in this portion, full of
picturesque half-lights and fascinating dark corners, that the children
had laid out their repast. The west window was more than fifty feet
distant. It was nearly closed in with an exquisite tracery of ivy; but
as plenty of light poured into the ruin from the open sky overhead, this
mattered very little, and but added to the general effect. The whole
little party were very busy, and no one worked harder than Polly, and no
one's laugh was more merry.