the path that runs beside the wood." So he gave the rein to his mare and they rode along, chatting merrily together, till they came to the wood. Then said the Squire, "Take a look within that nook And tell me what is there." And Mary exclaimed, "A dingle-bell, and truth to tell In full bloom, I declare!" The Squire now clucked to his nag, and as they rode away he said, "Now come with me and you shall see A field with cowslips bright And not a garden in the land Can show so fair a sight." And so it was, for as they rode through the pastures the cowslips bloomed on every hand, and Mary's eyes grew bigger and bigger as she thought of her poor garden with its dead flowers. And then the Squire took her toward the little brook that wandered through the meadows, flowing over the pebbles with a soft, gurgling sound that was very nearly as sweet as music; and when they reached it the big Squire said, "If you will look beside the brook You 'll see, I know quite well, That hidden in each mossy nook Is many a cockle-shell." This was indeed true, and as Mary saw them she suddenly dropped her head and began to weep. "What 's the matter, little one?" asked the Squire in his kind, bluff voice. And Mary answered, "Although the flowers I much admire, You know papa did say He won't be home again, Squire, Till all have passed away." "You must be patient, my child," replied her friend; "and surely you would not have been thus disappointed had you not tried to make the field flowers grow where they do not belong. Gardens are all well enough for fancy flowers to grow in, but the posies that God gave to all the world, and made to grow wild in the great garden of Nature, will never thrive in other places. Your father meant you to watch the