The White Lily. — 75

 

“That cannot be,” said the mouse. “See, its leaves
are fading fast.”

Pearl gave a sigh, and as she did so the sweet
scent of the flower came to her, and she sat up.

Ruby clasped his hands for joy when he saw that
his sister was cured, but Pearl had no thought for
herself or even for Ruby.

She wanted to see if the white lily were really fading.

Alas! it was quite true: its delicate leaves were
drooping and its white petals were tarnished.

Pearl took it up in her soft, warm hands, and held
it close to her soft, warm neck. She thought, perhaps,
the warmth would make it live again, but she had
forgotten the poppies and all the flowers that she and
Ruby had plucked yesterday, or she might have known
that what the mouse had said would prove true.

She sat there with the lily in her hands, and her
warm tears dropped down into its heart, and as they
dropped its sweet perfume floated into her own heart
and spoke to her a sweet message.

Nobody could hear what the lily said excepting