ide him, and he
himself--half sitting half leaning upon an old crooked apple tree, had
his hands full of cowslips--though what he was doing with them Faith
could not tell. Only from a fluttering end of blue ribband that
appeared, she could guess their destination. The two friends were
talking busily and merrily, with little cowslip interludes, and the
yellow blossoms sprinkled the grass all about the tree, some having
dropped down, others been tossed off as not worthy a place in the ball.
For that was the work in Mr. Linden's hands--something which Faith had
never seen.

It was so very pretty a picture that Faith sat down to look at it, and
thoughtless of being found out, looked on in a dream. Mr. Linden's
threats of yesterday did come back to her shrinkingly, but she threw
them off; the time was too happy to bear the shadow of anything
weightier than apple blossoms. Faith looked out through them
admiringly, marvelling anew how Mr. Linden had ever come to like her;
and while her soft eyes were studying him, her heart made many a vow
before the time. She only felt the birds fly past; her mind was taking
strange glimpses into the future.

Stepping jauntily out from the house, Sam Stoutenburgh came next upon
the scene, the springtime of his man's attire suiting well enough with
his years but not so well with his surroundings; too desperately smart
for the cowslips, bright and shining as they were there in the sun, too
_new_ for the tulips--though they had been out of the ground but a few
days. For

In a little bit of garden ground
Where many a lovely plant was found,
Stood a tulip in gay attire!
His pantaloons green as ever were seen,
His cap was as red as fire.

But the tulip was at least used to his cap--which was more than could
be said of Sam and his hat.

"Mrs. Derrick told me to come out here and find you, sir," he said.
"But what _are_ you doing, Mr. Linden?"

"I am making a ball."

"A ball!"

"Yes," said Mr. Linden,--"gratifying one of my youthful tastes. Sam,
I'll lend you my hat."

"Why! what for, sir?" said Sam, a little confused and a good deal
puzzled, while Reuben smiled.

"Just to save you from the headache while you stand there in the sun,"
said Mr. Linden, tying the ends of his ribband together. "It's a man's
hat, Sam--you need not be afraid of it. That's a good lesson in
whistling!" he said, looking up into the tree over his head, where a
robin had just come to exercise h