76 THE FLOWERS

over the forest, and shed a flickering, trembling
light on the whole scene, presenting the most
beautiful varieties of light and shadow. This
also was a place for the sweet singing of birds,
and for balmy zephyrs, which, as they passed,
produced that agitation of the leaves, which,
together with the rushing of a waterfall, heard
but not seen, filled my senses with a degree of
delight I had not often experienced. At the
moment when I had reached the brow of the
dell, my little puide appeared near the bottom,
springing, like the gazelle, from one rude step
to another ; and anon I beheld her stooping
down to gather certain flowers which grew
here and there on the green sward. The rude
trunk of a tree near which I stood formed a
convenient seat; I placed myself upon it, and
quietly awaited the return of the little Aimee.
A quarter of an hour had hardly elapsed, when
I saw her re-ascending the rocky side of the
glen, and presently she stood before me, all
glowing with delight. At my feet she set her
basket, which was filled with that lovely flower
we call the muguet, better known by its more
appropriate name, the lys des vallées, the lily
of the valley.

“There, my father,” said she, “there are