THE LADIES’ FLORAL CABINET. 
215 
“So she gave me to understand,’’ replied the deacon. 
“ And me, too,” added George Barlow. 
“ Will you stand by that, gentlemen ? ” asked Eu¬ 
gene, anxiously. “You see-—this is all news to me. I— 
I—in fact, I was a stranger, and-” 
“ And she took you in,” supplemented John Greyson, 
beginning to see how matters stood. “Yes, yes, we’ll 
stand by you,” and a roa 1 ' of laughter ran round the room, 
while Eugene wiped the perspiration from his manly brow. 
The member kindly withdrew his motion and George 
Barlow moved that the board refuse to accept Miss 
Theo’s resignation, and that a committee of three be sent 
to urge her to withdraw it and to continue in their ser¬ 
vice indefinitely. 
“ It’s quite a sacrifice,” remarked Deacon Elderkin, 
“but the board must stand by its unfortunate member.” 
It remained for Eugene Dascomb to smooth the way 
for that committee of three by writing Miss Theo a brief 
letter. In this letter he stated that several members of 
the board having understood from her that she had not 
yet accepted his offer, he concluded that he was mistaken 
in thinking that she had done so. He begged pardon for 
so misunderstanding her. And as he found that the 
board could not be prevailed upon to release her, he felt 
it to be his duty, in view of her great usefulness and the 
inability of the board to fill her place, to withdraw his 
offer and leave her at liberty to continue the noble work 
to which she had devoted her life. 
Poor Miss Theo ! it was a great blow to her, for she 
had given all the heart she had to this most suitable 
suitor; and it was really wonderful how much of that 
useful organ yet remained after she had frittered it away 
in driblets on so many sentimental friendships. 
Her resignation was withdrawn, but before another 
year passed she found herself unable to bear the sight of 
Eugene Dascomb’s handsome face, and she again re¬ 
signed and soon departed to some distant town. 
And Miss Theo’s love affairs receded forever from the 
horizon of the school board of L-. 
Mrs. Susie A. Bisbee. 
ORACLES OF FLOWERS. 
i. 
Three little girls in a meadow— 
Ethel and Madge and May— 
Trying the tests of flowers 
On a summer holiday. -7 
“ Who loves butter ? ” cries Ethel— 
Ethel with deep-blue eyes— 
And Madge laughs out, as the golden shade 
’Mid May’s soft dimples lies. 
“ Time to go home ? ” cries Ethel; 
“ Here is a fox-glove bell. 
I ring it. Hark ! can you hear the stroke, 
Deep in its painted cell ? 
“ The dandelion-clock is truer ; 
I blow it—One, two, three! ” 
“ Time to go home,” cry the children, 
“As true as true can be.” 
11. 
Three fair maids in a garden— 
Ethel and Madge and May— 
Trying their fates in flowers, 
In youth’s fair holiday. 
“ He loves me,” May whispers softly—■ 
May with the dove-like eyes— 
“ He loves me ‘ with deepest passion ’ 
Says the daisy that’s ever wise.” 
“ ‘ A rich man ’ shall be my husband,” 
Cries Madge, in her saucy glee ; 
■“ What care I how old or ugly 
So a rich, rich man he be ! ” 
“ Take, if you will, your ‘ rich man,’ 
A ‘ sailor-love ’ is mine ; 
The boldest, merriest sailor 
That ever sailed the brine. 
There’s none can love like a sailor,” 
Cries Ethel; but gentle May 
Shakes softly her golden tresses, 
With never a word to say. 
in. 
Three sad-eyed women together— 
Ethel and Madge and May— 
Telling their lives in flowers, 
On an autumn holiday. 
And Ethel plucks at a willow, 
To garland her aching head ; 
And Madge breaks sadly the mournful rue, 
And never a word is said. 
“ Not for me is the willow,” 
Cries May, with the dove-like eyes, 
“For long ago the truth it told, 
The daisy that’s ever wise. 
“Not for me is the mournful rue, 
For my love, he loved me well, • 
And never a shade of doubt or fear 
Between our fond hearts fell. 
“ Sad is the mournful willow, 
Sadder the bitter rue, 
But I can smile ’neath my cypress wreath, 
For I know that my love was true.” 
Helen F. More. 
