ce. All in the room observed the change,
wondering and rejoicing; rejoicing, for, when it passed away, which it
did more slowly than it had come, they could see that the smile had been
there, by the more life-like expression it left upon the face. But
Jervis Whitney was moved to wonderment more than all the rest; for the
moment he caught the scent of the flowers, he remembered it to be the
same as that which had met him at the foot of the hill the previous
evening.

Next afternoon, Bertha was off to the glades an hour before the usual
time, and climbing at once to the top of the hill, was delighted to find
that the bush had put forth fresh blossoms on every twig she had
stripped the evening before, and evidently to no other end than to be
stripped again for Sprigg's especial benefit. So it seemed to little
Bertha; so it seems to us. The folks at home had hardly taken the second
thought that she had gone for the cows, when here was Bertha back
again, her cheeks as brightly red from her loving haste as the flowers
she was strewing broadcast over and around her unconscious patient. Yes,
and there it came again--that smile, less faint and sweeter still--and
when it had passed away more slowly than before, more perceptible still
was the life-like cast it left upon the countenance. Every evening, for
seven days, was this repeated, the life-giving plant as often renewing
its blossoms, and their vivifying effects on the patient becoming more
and more apparent. Toward the third evening Sprigg had so far revived in
body as to be able to toss himself about on the bed, and, in mind, so
far as to be able to speak. And these manifestations of returning
strength became each day more and more decided. When he spoke, however,
it was to give utterance, in short and broken sentences, to wild and
incoherent fancies, incomprehensible to those who listened, taking, as
they did, shape and color from his present experiences; first, as an
object of Manitou retribution, now as an object of Manitou regeneration.
But always, the moment Bertha, returning all odorous from the glades,
entered the room, the tossings and the ravings would cease and he would
sink into a deep and peaceful sleep, and so remain throughout the
livelong night.

At length the imprisoned spirit became so susceptible to the mysterious
flowers that the brightening of the wan, young face would begin ere
Bertha, returning with a fresh culling of them, had well-nigh entered
the h