The home journal. (Winchester, Tenn.) 1858-188?, 1881-07-06
THE WATER LILY.

The little village Of Chelston, in the
county Of Hertford, might have been
termed with Goldsmiths "Sweet Au-
burn" the "loveliest of the plain"
"Whcre smiling spring it's earliest visit paid
| And parting summers lingering blooms delayed"
And on this bright summers morning
on which our story opens it appeared
more lovely than ever, with the rich
foliage swaylng beneath the clear blue
sky, the broad green meadows, and the
grazing cattle, while the grgle of q
brooklct mingled its music with the
caroling of birds.
Half-hidden amid shady clump of
trees a young artist sat painting at a
small, light easel, and the faint outlines
of distant hills and scattered hamlets
were already standing out from the can
| vas in front Of him.
He was apparently but little over
thirty years of age, and his face looked
grave and stern for one SO young, and
bore unaccountable traces of some long
hidden sorrow.
He had for some time been sitting alb
sorbed in his work, almost unconscious
Of anything around him save the fair
sketch of landscape he was SO faithfully
delineating.
The brooklet ran by him-not twenty
yards from where he was seated-and
the dappled COWS lay chewing their
cuds upon its banks, or quenching their
thirst in its crystal waters, reminding
one of Sidney Cooper's most perfect
pictures of cattle.
Ernest Darrell's attention was, how
ever, suddenly arrested by new object,
and one which to his gaze was fairer
than any he had seen that morning. A
little girl, scarcely seven yearssof age,
was standing near the brook-she lad
been gathering water lilies, and in her
| hand she held basket containing q
number of the pure white flowers. His
eyes fell upon her face, lifted wistfully
to his own, and then something like a
smile broke over the little ones mouth
as she said, half shyly:
"Do come and reach me this beauty,
if you please"
Ernest Darrell was hardly sure at first
whether it was really himself she was
addressing; but no sooner was he aware
snd w brmyi,es and came forward to hcr
ass;stonoo anG ~ ''' ~ ''' ava ''''N " ''>'
''''''' =, .,
"a Water-hiy, Is lt'' lie asked, gianc-
ing at her basket.
Eyes, such beauty, but so far out of
my reach" she repeated, and then stood
eagerly Watching Ernest, who stretching
himself full length upon the bank sue
cecded with his long arm In grasping
the coveted flower.
The child's delight was unbounded,
the sight OF which amply rewarded Inn
for his trouble; but the unusual beauty
of her face and the air of childIike grace
which accompanied her every movement
completely won Ernests heart, and he
was determined not to let her run away
Just yet.
'Yon must give me kiss as payment
for it," he said, with smile, lightly
passing his hand over her golden head
from which her hat had fallen. She
started back, with vivid blush.
"Oh, no, indeed; | am great deal
t,,o old to kiss Won" she exclaimed
"Wby. I am seven, and quite n Young
lodv .
"Are vol really9 Then nm sure I
beo vonr nardon" soid Ernest hardly
allie to repress a laugh "But at any
rate Won will tell me- your name?" he
added.
"Oh, yes; my name is Lillian, but !
am nearly always called Lily" replied
the little girl with an air of consequence.
Gillian nothing else?' asked Ernest.
"No: only that" she answered.
Surnames are generally superhnons
with children.
"Then, I presume, the fact of your
being iilS Yourself makes you fond OF
the flowers that bear your name" he
reioined. smiling.
She laughedoa soft, silvery, happy
lonob that fell like music upon the
; vo,,ng artists ear.
"Oh, ! don't know; | think L love all
clancing down at her basket "They are
s 90 Ioras and and nnre and white, like the
wbito. robed angels in the stained glas.
wn,ipnvDet ,simJo,rs ot c%mrch @ Mamma loves then
too ]noUms ho"a,,se o .he swbnn am not will
hsr u' tbev remi I'd her Of me-"