At last the eldest of the group spoke, 

 and in a musing tone, as if indeed she 

 looked back over the years which had 

 long since fled, told this tale : — 



" I never knew," said she, " but one 

 person who bore the name of a flower 

 to whom it seemed a part of herself. 

 I was but a young girl myself when I 

 first came to know Miss Artemesia, 

 who lived in that great white house 

 with Corinthian columns that stands 

 on the farther side of the street. 



" She was an only child, and as she 

 came late in the married life of her 

 parents, they named her for the new 

 flower which had but recently bloomed 

 in the garden, and which, blooming 

 late in the year, reminded them of 

 their little daughter. 



"The little Artemesia grew and 



flourished, playing around the stately 



garden on sunny days, and though 



she escaped many of childhood's ills, 



187 



