A NEW WAY TO THE BLUE MOUNTAINS. 73

She put the brown frock on, and tied a brown straw hat over her
flowing goldy-brown hair. The hat, too, had been trimmed by her
mother. It was a sober, Quaker sort of little hat, but Primrose’s
extremely pretty face looked charming under it. She loved this
hat and this brown frock better than all the rest of her clothes,
for they had been the very last work finished for her by her mother
before she left the cottage.

“Oh, my darling, darling mother!” said the little girl, clasping
her hands; “how glad I shall be when I see you again. Oh, I
hope the King of the country beyond the Mountains won’t be very
angry with me for not beginning my journey early this morning.”

Then Primrose returned to the kitchen, where Buttercup was
already eating hunks of thick bread and butter covered with honey.
He wore a little sailor suit, and Primrose, going to his room, brought
out a large sailor hat with a band of blue ribbon round it, to put on
his head.

“Why am I to wear that thing?” he said; “it 1s much too
large; Vd rather have my cap.”

“No, Bee,” said Primrose, “the hat is better than the cap, for
mother trimmed it for you. She trimmed this hat for me and
this hat for you just before the King sent for her, and I think it will
be much better for us to wear these things that seem to be so full
of her.”

Buttercup, too, had been extremely fond of his mother, and
when Primrose spoke to him about the hat she had trimmed, he
made no further objection to wearing it.

“Let us be quick now,” said Primrose. “The day is already
half over. Don’t delay too long over your breakfast, Bee.”

“ Well, I suppose I may finish my breakfast,” said Buttercup.
“This honey is quite delicious. I am awfully fond of honey ; Vd
better eat as much of it as I can, as there’s no saying when we ll get
another meal. Would it not be well for us to take a picnic basket
with us, Rose ?”

“No,” replied Primrose; * for in the letter which Clover received
from the King, he said there were plenty of inns on the road, and