The Intermountain Catholic. (Salt Lake City [Utah] ;) 1899-1920, 1905-03-25

held when the girls stopped picking. Nowhere, she
felt sure, could more beautiful daisies be found
than these she had sought out so carefully.
"I'll bring mine up to the church myself" Mabel
said as she parted from the girls at the roadway
when | come UP to help trlm
is that all you picked, Mabel I" asked her moth
err in surprise. when Mabel had reached home
Mabel only nodded i'll response smiling happily.
She rearranged the blossoms carefully, and put
them away until time to take them to the church.
The girls were to be at the church at 10 o'clock.
Mabel thought she started early, but when she en-
tered the little white building she found that she
was the last girl to arrive. and that the trimming
was already quite advanced. Miss Green. herself,
was experimenting it all. There she was in the
farther corner of the room. surrounded by group
of the girls. Mabel hurried forward and joined the
circle in time to see Miss Green open box she held
in her hand
aren't they lovely girls Miss Green said,
holding the box low to show its contents.
Mabel leaned forward. There lying carefully in
the folds of the protecting white tissue paper lay
a beautiful cluster of orchids
Y mgoing to wear them III my hair" Miss Green
went on "A very dear friend who was my closest
girl chum sent them to me- She raised them her
self. She heard / was going to carry orchids, and
she wrote me to know if | were willing she should
send the ones | wore in my hair
Mabes heart fell so suddenly that she scarcely
noticed that it was Fanny who was standing next to
her, nor heard her friend as she whispered:
How funny! | thought Miss Green said she'd
the flowers her young girl friends sent, and
that, of course, meant us. She must have meant
somebody who was a friend of hers when she
young girl herself, mustn't she p
Mabel nodded not daring to trust her voice And
then almost before Mabel had had time to realize
her disappointment, Miss Green spoke to her.
ooh Mabel" she said swectly closing the box of
orchids, we've been waiting for YOU You've no
j. tan To
Fanny and Maude and the rest of the girls brought
such lot and yet we haven't enough. We've been
waiting for yours. We need them for the end wall
Mabel had never felt so Inundated in her life as
she did at that moment. There was nothing to do
but present her meager cluster She could not look
at Miss Green as she handed the flowers to her,
instead she looked at the space OH the end wall
and thought how very large it seemed-larger than
it had ever looked before. Miss Green took the
daisies but try as she would, she could not entirely
hide her surprise.
They're beautiful ones" she murmured kindly;
but Mabel thought she would have been more
pleased if Miss Green had said nothing at ALL
Mabel was too miserable to stay with the girls
in the church very long She crept away, unob
served, into the grove of trees that stood back of
the churchyard. There she gave way to tears which
lasted some time She could not tell why, nor at
whom, but she knew she felt bitterly angry. For
while the anger held possession of her thoughts,
but at last the tears seemed to clear her reason She
suddenly sat up very straight
"Goosie' she said almost aloud. as if she were
addressing some one beside herself. Il know whom
you are mad at It's yourself, and you ought to be.
1t serves you just right. You picked those incest
flowers just 50 you could get ahead of the other
girls, and make it seem if Miss Green liked you
best. Fanny and Maude never thought of being so
mean. That is why YOU feel Inundated. 1t
hurts your pride, 1t never would have happened
if it hadn't been for your selfshness. -Pittsburg
Observer