THE VISIT OF FRANCIS 13 



rock in the woods he calls Adam, because It is 

 so old. 



That very afternoon my cousin Francis came 

 from his home In New England to visit us. He 

 Is a fine boy, just Tommy's age. When he jumped 

 from the carriage, I saw that he had a little 

 box in his hand, and once he was going to give it 

 to Grandmother; but she had a visitor just then, 

 so he kept it by him closely. 



When I introduced Tommy to him, saying that 

 he loved flowers, Francis threw the box down on 

 the table, and put his head back, as much as to 

 say : " Match that if you can." 



In the box there was a little bunch of Trailing 

 Arbutus, or Mayflower. Its scent was like the 

 dew on the ground, only far sweeter. Of course 

 Tommy knew he could not hope to find It near his 

 home, and he said so at once. Then Francis said 

 we had no other flower half so pretty. Nowi 

 Tommy is very proud of the flowers that grow 

 around here, and he felt angry. He said nothing 

 then to Francis, but ran out and brought in the few 

 Dutchman's Breeches he had picked in the 

 morning. 



" Isn't that a more beautiful flower? " he asked. 

 " Look at its fern-like leaves and see how curious 

 it is." 



" No," said Francis. 



" You think those stiff leaves of your flower 

 pretty?" asked Tommy. 



