FLOWERS OF THE SEA. Y9 



Tirelessly she worked, matcHng tlie skill ker 

 fingers had acquired in netting of seines with 

 a quenchless desire to preserve a semblance of 

 her fair but perishable treasure. 



Finally there dawned a morning when the 

 plant lay black and withered. AU the beauty 

 which had held the two hearts by its magic 

 was gone ; but in the hand of the maiden lay 

 its delicate counterpart, woven of the finest of 

 threads. 



The little sea plant which, it is said, actu- 

 ally furnished designs for the original Venetian 

 point lace, the netting of which the women of 

 Burano and of Venice were anciently so fa- 

 mous, has since been known as mermaid's lace. 



