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 
