68 
what we do not understand, and I could never dis¬ 
cover any reason for her fickleness of mind. My 
presentiment was but too true. One day she ex¬ 
changed me, and many of my sisters, for a Tulip, 
and I was thrown into a pit, from which I was after¬ 
wards drawn out, and sent, with many other flowers, 
to this country 
“ I never knew what Hyacinths had done to lose 
their value in the eyes of the world; but at the 
present day, we are only cherished by the lovers of 
nature. I do not mean to complain of this,” she 
added, “ for such friends alone are lasting ones, but 
I wish I could understand why I was one day so 
valuable, and the next so insignificant.” 
Mary was as much at a loss as the Hyacinth. 
She was not yet old enough to know, that the favor 
of the world depends upon the fashion of a day; 
