rself who was standing before me?

Instinctively, I noted changes. The wax-like smoothness, and, to a
certain extent, the whiteness of her complexion, had yielded to the
fervid rays of the prairie sun; but the slight embrowning appeared
rather an improvement: as the bloom upon the peach, or the russet on the
nectarine, proves the superior richness of the fruit. It had toned down
the red upon her cheeks, but the glow was still sufficiently vivid. I
observed or fancied another change--in her stature. She appeared to
have grown larger and taller--in both respects, almost equalling her
sister--and resembling the latter in that full development of form,
which was one of the characteristic features of her queen-like beauty.
These were the only changes external. Even the simple costume--the old
homespun frock of yellowish stripe--still enveloped her form; no longer
hanging loosely as of yore, but presenting a more sparing fit on account
of the increased dimensions of the wearer. The string of pearls, too--
false pearls, poor thing!--yet encircled her throat, whose now fuller
outline was more capable of displaying them. A pleasing reflection
crossed my mind at the moment, that shaped itself into an interrogatory:
might there have been no motive for further adornment?

As erst, her little feet were naked--gleaming with roseate translucence
against the green background of the herbage. She was standing when I
first saw her: not in a position of rest, but with one foot pressing the
turf, the other slightly retired, as if she had just paused in her
steps. She was not fronting me, but half-turned. She appeared to have
come as near as she intended, and was about going off again in an
oblique direction: like the startled antelope, that, despite its
timidity, stops to gaze upon the "object that has alarmed it." So short
a time had my eyes been averted from the path by which she must have
approached, I might well have fancied that she had suddenly sprung out
of the earth--as Cytherea from the sea! Equally brilliant was the
apparition--to me, of far more absorbing interest. Her large eyes were
fixed upon me in a gaze of wondering curiosity--a curiosity which the
picturesque habiliments and savage character of my toilet were well
calculated to provoke. Her examination of me was soon ended; and she
walked off in the direction towards which she had already turned her
steps. She seemed scarcely satisfied, however: as I observed