I 14 SACRIFICE A PLEASURE. 
her time was “ more than occupied,” does not 
express it ! Society was ignored, all superfluous 
articles of food and dress were dispensed with, 
and the large margin of time which such things 
demand was used, with the closest and most 
rigid economy in the furtherance of her plan. 
The inside of the house was soon a fit study 
for an artist, to say nothing of its interest for one 
devoted to natural history. But little time could 
be given to house-plants, though a few grew in 
the windows ; but native grasses, mosses, ferns, 
and a lovely little evergreen vine with red berries, 
under the magic of her fingers more than sup- 
plied their place. However it was not in the 
graceful evergreen sprays, forming lambrequins 
more dainty than could have been made from any 
woven fabric, over the mist-like curtains ; nor in 
the lovely landscapes, and sweet, noble faces, that 
looked out from frames shadowed by feathery 
grasses and glossy ivy leaves, that the charm of 
the rooms lay. They were instinct with life!. 
One could not feel alone in the presence of the 
owl that looked down in absent-minded benignity 
from above the door; nor with the squirrels, 
which were playing with each other on the pic- 
ture-frame. Then the humming-bird ! Had it 
just come in through the open window and 
thrust its beak into the heart of the flower in the 
hanging-basket? Its tiny feet were drawn up. 
