THE NORTHOROFT LILIES.

but as she pondered, the verse of a hymn she knew
came into her mind :-
 "A nd every virtue we possess,
 And every conquest won,
 And every thought of holiness
 Are His alone."

It was very delightful, she thought.
 But there were other happy days still in store for
her at Northcroft; Effie began to teach her flower
painting, and many a little group of violets and moss
or frail cluster of delicate wood anemones, which the
little girl's loving hands had tried to transfer to paper,
came to gladden poor Nancy on her weary bed. Then
the haymaking season came, and Effie condescended
to go to the field with the others, and they all arrived
at the conclusion that making hay was more like play
than work, a sentiment which the people in the hay-
field would scarcely have echoed. As summer came
on and the pale green of the woods toned into a darker
colour, how sweet and cool was their shade from the
sun in the bright June days; and how pleasant it was
to watch the rabbits as they looked up with timid
eyes and popped back again into their holes; and how
soft and far-off sounded the cooing of the wood-pigeons
as they stood and listened at the Rectory door in the
soft pale twilight of the midsummer evenings! And
was there anything so beautiful as the sky, with no
smoke to dim its clear blueness! Gertrude thought
not. And so the summer passed, and still the girls
had never been to Lincoln; and though Gertrude
was longing to see the Cathedral, she had faith in her
papa's word that he would take her if he saw her
happy and contented.
 September came, when the morning breezes had a
crisp, delicious freshness, and the warm noon-day sun