t deal of her time in this ideal log-house, sometimes
garrisoning and defending it, during Bertie's absence, against a war
party of savages, for danger was by no means excluded from her scheme of
felicity, except perhaps one, like St. Senaun's isle, her--

"Sacred sod,
Should ne'er by Woman's feet be trod."

In such dreams and the companionship of Bluebell, who gave no further
offence, now that she had learnt self-command and the necessity of
keeping her feelings to herself, the spring advanced apace, and the first
bluebird, alighting on the garden rails, was descried with a shriek of
ecstacy by Lola.

The children, who unlike their elders, had had no gaieties, or sleighing
and skating parties, to wile away the rigours of the snow king's reign,
were emancipated from dulness by the approach of summer. Their lessons
could be carried on in the garden; and, one day, Lola, who had shut her
eyes while repeating to herself an irregular verb, saw, on opening them,
a jewelled humming-bird balancing itself in the air on a level with her
hat, and apparently inspecting that head-dress with wonder and curiosity,
after which it flashed off and dived into a flower.

The garden was alive with fairy wonders; wild canaries came to it--pure
saffron, except their black-flecked wings,--the soldier-bird, so bold and
scarlet,--robins were a drug in the market, and only tolerated for their
tameness and vocal powers. But none could weary of the bluebirds, whose
azure took so vivid a hue in flight, from the sun shining through their
wings.

Then there were excursions to the Humber woods in search of wild flowers,
all new, rare, and delicate,--too much so to bear the pressure of eager
hands, for they seldom survived the transit home. Often Cecil, Bluebell,
Miss Prosody, and the children drove there in a waggonette, with a
luncheon-basket, and spent the whole day in the golden woods, or rowing
on the Humber river. Cecil's craze at this time was to paddle her own
canoe; and occasionally Lilla Tremaine, who had become pretty intimate
with her, joined the aquatic party.

The Colonel had rather demurred at first, thinking there was a _soupcon_
of fastness and independence in it. Visions of possible anglers and
unchaperoned river flirtations disturbed his mind; but eventually he
satisfied himself, by requiring Miss Prosody to be always of the party,
who followed with the children and a boatman in a flat-bottomed tub.

On one of these occa