34 Lily and Water-Lity.

 

murmured at last, undecidedly. “But don’t let us
think about it any more. Throw away the flower,
and come and play.”

He put out his hand to tear it from her bosom, and
as he did so he saw that the slender tendrils were not
so delicate as they seemed ; he saw that Pearl’s white
flesh was scarred and bruised, that the purple creeper
had left its mark upon her.

Pearl’s eyes filled with tears, and she trembled as
she looked at the little pink marks upon her neck ;
but still more she trembled, and her blue ‘eyes grew
larger with fear, as she saw that the plant which
Ruby now held lay limp and withered in his grasp,
where but an instant before it had smiled so gay and
so brave.

“Oh, Ruby, Ruby, see what we have done!” she
cried. “What Mother Earth said zwas true. The
flower is dying.”

For an instant Pearl and Ruby lay their curly
heads together, intent on this strange and unknown
thing which they had never seen before, tenderly