s laid down outside the door when he first entered, and at
last brought in and held as has been stated.

Hazel felt ready to laugh, for there was a smirk upon Mr Chute's face,
and a peculiar look that reminded her of a French peasant in an opera
she had once seen, as he stood presenting a large bunch of flowers to
the lady of his love. There was a wonderful resemblance to the scene,
which was continued upon the stage by the lady boxing the peasant's ears
and making him drop the huge bouquet which she immediately kicked, so
that it came undone, and the flowers were scattered round.

Of course this did not take place in the real scene, for, after the
first sensation relating to mirth, Hazel felt so troubled that she was
ready to run away into the cottage to avoid her persecutor.

For was there ever a young lady yet who could avoid looking upon an
offering of flowers as having a special meaning? The pleasant fancy of
the language of flowers is sentimental enough to appeal to every one who
is young; and here was Mr Chute presenting her with his first bouquet,
a very different affair, so she thought, to the bunches of beautiful
roses brought from time to time by Miss Burge.

"Just a few flowers out of our garden, my dear," the little lady said,
without any allusion to the fact that her brother had selected every
rose himself, cutting them with his own penknife, and afterwards
carefully removing every spine from the stems.

What should she do? She did not want Chute's flowers, but if she
refused them the act would be looked upon almost as an insult, and it
was not in Hazel's nature to willingly give pain. So she rather weakly
took them, thanked the donor, and he went away smiling, after giving her
a look that seemed, according to his ideas, to tell her that his heart
was hers for ever, and that he was her most abject slave.

Hazel saw the glance, and thought that Mr Chute looked rather silly;
but directly after repented bitterly of what she had done, and wished
that she had firmly refused the gift.

"And yet what nonsense!" she reasoned. "Why should I look upon a
present of a few flowers as having any particular meaning? They are to
decorate the school for the inspection, and I will take them in that
light."

Acting upon this, she quietly called up Feelier Potts and another of the
elder girls who were whispering together, evidently about the the gift,
sent them to the cottage for some basins and jugs, and bade t