atch, and that face, which, notwithstanding all her naughtiness, was
and must ever be beautiful above ordinary faces.

By-and-by the girls reached the pool. They both fell on their knees, and
Rosamund desired Irene to gaze at her reflection.

"Here are some forget-me-nots," said Rosamund. "I am going to make a
wreath to put round your hair. Take your hat off."

She made a little wreath in a few minutes, and twined them through
Irene's curling locks.

"Now look again. What do you see?"

"Why, she is somebody rather--I mean she is beautiful, very beautiful,"
said Irene in a low voice. "But she is not me."

"She is you. Look again. Don't you see that soft little mouth, and that
nose, so beautifully formed, and those bright, bright eyes, and that
hair, and the whole thing? It was God who made you, Irene, and He made
you beautiful, and beautiful people have a great gift."

Irene ceased to look at herself. She flung off the forget-me-not wreath
and turned to Rosamund.

"Now, what do you mean by all this lecturing?" she said.

"Beautiful people have a great responsibility," continued Rosamund in a
stout voice. "They are sent into the world to make it better. As far as
I can make out, up to the present time you have done nothing whatever
but make the world worse. You have never, so far as I can tell, been
kind to your mother. You have made the servants most unhappy. You have
done your utmost to render your governesses' position impossible."

"Because I hate them, and don't want to learn."

"Not want to learn," said Rosamund, "with that forehead so full, so
intelligent? Why, you could learn in a flash. You could get knowledge
with the utmost ease, and you would love it when once you began. If I am
to be your friend you have got to turn over a new leaf. There, I have
said enough about yourself for the present. Just let us walk about until
tea-time."

"No; I want to go in the boat."

"We won't go in the boat till after tea. I want to talk to you."

"I wonder why I am obeying you?" said Irene, slipping her hand inside
Rosamund's.

"Because I mean you to."

"I wonder why I'm not hating you?"

"Because if you did I should leave you."

"I couldn't let you go. It seems to me the whole world is different
since I got you. But do tell me, you are not very good yourself?"

"I am not at all so good. Ask the people at Sunnyside what they think of
me. There is my dearest friend lying at death's door--that is not my
fau