inds of moss growing
within immediate reach, and found six; tried to decide which was the
prettiest, and finding this impossible, gave it up, and fell to watching
the play of the sunshine as it came twinkling through the branches of
oak and pine. Green and gold!--those were the colors the fairy princes
always wore, she thought. It was the most perfect combination in the
world; and she hummed a verse of one of Hildegarde's ballads:--

"Gold and green, gold and green,
She was the lass that was born a queen.
Velvet sleeves to her grass-green gown,
And clinks o' gold in her hair so brown."

Presently the girl noticed that in one place the trees were thinner, and
that the light came strongly through, as from an open space beyond. Did
the wood end here, then? She rose, and parting the leaves, moved
forward, till all of a sudden she stopped short, in amazement. For
something strange was before her. In an open green space, with the
forest all about it, stood a house,--not a deserted house, nor a
tumbledown log-hut, such as one often sees in Maine, but a trim, pretty
cottage, painted dark red, with a vine-covered piazza, and a miniature
lawn, smooth and green, sloping down to a fringe of willows, beyond
which was heard the murmur of an unseen brook. The shutters were closed,
and there was no sign of life about the place, yet all was in perfect
order; all looked fresh and well cared for, as if the occupants had gone
for a walk or drive, and might return at any moment. A drive? Hark! was
not that the sound of wheels, even at this moment, on the neat
gravel-path? Rose drew back instinctively, letting the branches close in
front of her. Yet, she thought, there could be no harm in her peeping
just for a moment, to see who these forest-dwellers might be. A fairy
prince? a queenly maiden in gold and green? Laughing at her own
thoughts, she leaned forward to peep through the leafy screen. What was
her astonishment when round the corner came the familiar head of Dr.
Abernethy, with the carryall behind him, Jeremiah driving, and Miss
Wealthy sitting on the back seat! Rose could not believe her eyes at
first, and thought she must be asleep on the tree-trunk, and dreaming it
all. Her second thought was, why should not Miss Bond know the people of
the house? They were her neighbors; she had come to make a friendly
call. There was nothing strange about it. No! but it _was_ strange to
see the old lady, afte