zled over her answer and could make nothing of it.

"That is a Fuchsia--and that is another."

"How beautiful!--how beautiful. They are not sweet?"

"You cannot _always_ have sweetness in connexion with everything else,"
he said with a slight emphasis. Faith's mind was too far away from the
subject to catch his innuendo; unless other lips had spoken it.

"Mrs. Derrick," said the doctor, "I should like as a professional man,
to know what portion of the wing of a robin this lady can manage for
her breakfast?"

"Some days more and some days less," said Mrs. Derrick. "She was not
very hungry this morning." (A mild statement of the case.)

"Some days less than the wing of a robin!" said the doctor. "The robin
himself is a better feeder. Mrs. Derrick, what fancies does this bird
live upon?"

The allusion drew a smile to Faith's face, which Mrs Derrick did not
understand.

"She don't tell all her fancies,--she has _seemed_ to live on tea and
toast, for eatables."

The doctor smiled, and went back to Faith who was busy with the
flowers; or as Mrs. Derrick said, seemed to be busy with them.

"Are those better than cowslips?" he asked lightly.

"They are more wonderfully beautiful--they are not better in their
place."

"How is that?"

"I told you cowslips were bits of spring," said Faith smiling. "These
are not that. I think everything in the world--I mean, the natural
world--has its place, that it fills."

"Better than any other would?"

"I suppose so. Yes."

"That is admirable philosophy," said the doctor. "Excellent to keep one
contented. Three feet of snow is then as good as May zephyrs! Daisies
and dandelions are fair substitutes for geraniums and cacti! And these
barren granite fields, where the skeleton rock has hardly covered
itself skin deep with soil, are better than flowery prairies of rolling
land, and fertile wildernesses of roses!"

"Well," said Faith; "you needn't laugh. I think they are."

"By what transmutation of philosophy?"

Faith's philosophy was put to the test by certain sounds which just
then came to her ear; the hall door opened and shut quick though
softly, and Reuben came lightly upstairs--two stairs at a time!--but
his knock at Faith's door was almost as quiet as usual. Whatever spirit
of energy was at work in him, however, calmed itself down at sight of
Dr. Harrison--whom he did not then stay to greet, but coming up with a
swift steady step to Faith's chair, knelt down there a