He
settles down into a good husband and father, and, in brief, reminds one
of the sturdy English squire who is sincerely devout over his prayer-book
on proper occasions, and between times takes all the goods the gods send.
In the morning little Johnnie came to the breakfast-table in a state of
great excitement. It soon appeared that she had a secret that she would
tell no one but Amy--indeed, she would not tell it, but show it; and
after breakfast she told Amy to put on her rubber boots and come with
her, warning curious Alf meanwhile to keep his distance. Leading the way
to a sunny angle in the garden fence, she showed Amy the first flower of
the year. Although it was a warm, sunny spot, the snow had drifted there
to such an extent that the icy base of the drift still partially covered
the ground, and through a weak place in the melting ice a snow-drop had
pushed its green, succulent leaves and hung out its modest little
blossom. The child, brought up from infancy to feel the closest sympathy
with nature, fairly trembled with delight over this _avant-coureur_ of
the innumerable flowers which it was her chief happiness to gather. As if
in sympathy with the exultation of the child, and in appreciation of all
that the pale little blossom foreshadowed, a song-sparrow near trilled
out its sweetest lay, a robin took up the song, and a pair of bluebirds
passed overhead with their undulating flight and soft warble.
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