away. Your Mother wouldn't care; she would love to see how happy you were. Please come." And Eepersip's hands went out in supplication, scattering over Fleuriss wreaths of flowers, sprays of berries, crimson, gold, frosty white.
"Oh how beautiful!" exclaimed the little girl. But when she looked up, Eepersip had vanished.
***
Suddenly the door opened and Mrs. Eigleen stepped out. Eepersip had darted under the welcome branches of an apple-tree, whose thick blossoms kept her from sight.
"How sweet it smells!" said Mrs. Eigleen— "just as if a fairy had been here. Where did those flowers come from, Fleuriss?"
"Oh," answered Fleuriss, "I saw the most beautiful girl. She brought me flowers and called me 'little sister' and wanted me to go away with her!"
Pale and weak from fright, Mrs. Eigleen took Fleuriss by the hand and dragged her roughly into the house.
Eepersip sat down under the apple-tree in ecstasy. "I saw her," she said softly, "I saw her and talked to her, and—oh, how dear she is ! But I
