w? No, far from it--wishing again and again
that she had been left alone.

However, it was too late. She had always complained of not being in her
proper position, and now the glorious change was come; she was being
taken to where her hopes had aspired,--a conservatory or a greenhouse,
it mattered not which.

After a while, with the usual indifference of such natures, her regrets
subsided, giving place to thoughts respecting the place in which she was
destined to live.

'Of course I shall be welcomed by all the nobler flowers with delight
and astonishment,' she mused; 'delight because of my agreeable manners,
and astonishment at my beauty! How I wish my old hedgerow friends could
but be present to witness my reception!'

But this reception, upon which she built such bright fancies, was
delayed for some few days, for, on arriving at her destination, she was
carried into a dingy shed, not into the splendid glass palace her
visions had conjured up.

'Is this the place to which I am destined?' she muttered complainingly.
'Oh dear! no one will see me here. I wish I had remained in the lane,
for there was a chance of my being admired by some passer-by. What is
the use of my ambitious hopes, if this is to be the end of them?'

Fortunately there was no flower or even a plant near to be wearied with
her repinings, so on she grumbled, until at last her misery reached its
climax, when she was taken and pressed tightly into a horrible
flower-pot, then carefully watered, and afterwards put into a dark
corner to take root. Had she been capable of shedding tears, no water
would have been required, such as was given to revive her; for the
sorrow she felt was almost too great to be borne. Here was a life to
lead after all her high aspirations, and her slender roots, too, were so
cramped and squeezed it was something dreadful! Oh for the once despised
hedgerow, with the soft, cool earth, in which she could stretch her
delicate fibres!

But wait, impatient little flower! other days are coming.

One morning--at least so it proved to be, though at the time she did not
know it, as in her dark dwelling she saw neither sunrise nor
sunset--well, this morning of which we speak, to her intense delight,
the gentleman came and carried her out into the open air, and surveyed
her critically.

'Yes,' she heard him say, and how her heart bounded with pride, 'it is
indeed a lovely flower, and may well take its place among those in the
conser