The Project Gutenberg EBook of Elsie in the South, by Martha Finley

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Elsie in the South

Author: Martha Finley

Release Date: April 23, 2010 [EBook #32103]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ELSIE IN THE SOUTH ***

Produced by David Edwards and the Online Distributed
Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was
produced from images generously made available by The
Internet Archive)

ELSIE IN THE SOUTH

BY

MARTHA FINLEY

AUTHOR OF THE ELSIE BOOKS, THE MILDRED BOOKS,
"WANTED, A PEDIGREE," ETC.

NEW YORK
DODD, MEAD AND COMPANY
PUBLISHERS

COPYRIGHT, 1899,
BY
DODD, MEAD & COMPANY.

_All rights reserved._

THE MERSHON COMPANY PRESS,
RAHWAY, N. J.

ELSIE IN THE SOUTH

CHAPTER I.

"What a storm! there will be no going out to-day even for the early
stroll about the grounds with papa," sighed Lucilla Raymond one
December morning, as she lay for a moment listening to the dash of
rain and sleet against her bedroom windows. "Ah, well! I must not
fret, knowing who appoints the changes of the seasons, and that all He
does is for the best," her thoughts ran on. "Besides, what pleasures
we can all have within doors in this sweetest of homes and with the
dearest and kindest of fathers!"

With that she left her bed and began the duties of the toilet, first
softly closing the communicating door between her own and her sister's
sleeping apartments lest she should disturb Grace's slumbers, then
turning on the electric light in both bedroom and bathroom, for,
though after six, it was still dark.

The clock on the mantel struck seven before she was quite through with
these early morning duties, but the storm had in no wise abated in
vi