the kernels. I'm ashamed of
myself."

"You mustn't condemn yourself too much. It's natural to pass through a
period when those things seem the greatest things in the world, but if
we do not shake off their influence and see the need of having real
things to lay hold on we need to be jolted. I was money-mad, but I had
my jolt."

"Then we can both make a fresh beginning. And we'll try hard to be
worthy of Mother Bab, won't we, David?"

David was mute; he could merely nod his head in answer. Worthy of Mother
Bab--what a goal! How sweet the name sounded from Phoebe's lips! Should
he tell her of his love for her? He looked into her face. Her eyes were
like clear blue pools but they mirrored only sisterly affection, he
thought. Ah, well, he would be unselfish enough to go away without
telling of the hope of his heart. If he came back there would be ample
time to tell her; it was needless to bind her to a long-absent lover. If
he came back crippled--if he never came back at all---- Oh, why delve
into the future!

CHAPTER XXX

THE FEAST OF ROSES

IN the little town of Greenwald there is performed each year in June an
interesting ceremony, the Feast of Roses.

The origin of it dates back to the early colonial days when wigwam fires
blazed in many clearings of this great land and Indians, fashioned after
the similitude of bronze images, stole among the stalwart trees of the
primeval forests. In those days, about the year 1762, a tract of land
containing the present site of the little town of Greenwald fell into
the hands of a German, who was so charmed by the fertility and beauty of
the fields encircled by the winding Chicques Creek that he laid out a
town and proceeded to build. The erection of those early houses entailed
much labor. Bricks were imported from England and hauled from
Philadelphia to the new town, a distance of almost one hundred miles.

Some time later the founder built a glass factory in the new town,
reputed to have been the first of its kind in America. Skilled workmen
were imported to carry on the work, and marvelously skilful they must
have been, as is proven by the articles of that glass still extant. It
is delicately colored, daintily shaped, when touched with metal it
emits a bell-like ring, and altogether merits the praise accorded it by
every connoisseur of rare and beautiful glass.

Tradition claims that the founder of that town was of noble birth, but
his right to a title is not a