mighty glad I've caught you. I always
did like pets. I wonder what you will think of Muffet, grandma's canary?
If I just had these lovely lilacs now, little birdie, I'd be perfectly
happy. But a bird in the hand is worth--a whole bushel of blossoms. I
guess I'll take you home to Elspeth--"

"Oh, you mustn't!" cried a distressed voice behind the purple tassels.
"That is my bird, Gypsy. I just let him loose to see if it was really
you mocking him. Bring him home, won't you? And I'll give you all the
lilacs you want."

Startled at the sound of a human voice almost at her elbow when she
could see no sign of the speaker, Peace let go her hold on the
frightened captive, and with a relieved chirp, it flew out of sight
among the thick branches. But she made no attempt to follow its flight,
she was too scared. "Are--are--was it a real woman which did that
talking?" chattered Peace, wetting her lips with her tongue.

"Yes," answered the voice, with just the tinge of a laugh in it. "I live
in the stone house this side of the lilac bushes. I saw you through the
leaves and heard what you said, but won't you please bring my little
Gypsy home? I'll give you all the flowers you want. Go down to the road
and come in through the front gate. I am here in my chair."

"Your bird has gone home already," Peace answered, reassured by this
explanation. "But I'll come and get those lilacs you spoke about."

She ran nimbly down the length of the lilac hedge, dodged out of sight
around the corner, and appeared the next moment at the iron gate which
shut out the street from the grand stone house with its wide lawns,
great oaks, smooth, flower-bordered walks, and splashing fountain.

"Oh, how beau-ti-ful!" cried the child in delight, as the gate swung
shut behind her. "I've always wanted to know what this place looked
like, but the tall hedge all along the fence is too thick to see through
and one can get only a teenty peek through the gate. There is your bird
on top of its cage now. See, I didn't keep him, though I'd like to. He
is a splendid singer. I sh'd think you'd be the happiest lady in the
whole world with all these lovely flowers and--are you a lady?"

For the first time since entering the great gate, Peace turned her big,
brown eyes full upon the occupant of the reclining chair in the shade
of the lilac bushes, and her lively chatter faltered, for the face
pillowed among the silken cushions seemed neither a child's nor yet a
woman'