THE LADIES ’ FLORAL CABINET. 
371 
over her, though evidently unused to traveling alone— 
thanked her with a very relieved face and sat down be¬ 
side her. The lady’s eyes fell at once to the flowers and 
lingered there. Sadie, who was watching her new 
tra veling companion, saw from the lialf-sad, half-tender 
smilo which curved her lips, and the abstracted, dreamy 
look on her face, that she was far away from her pres¬ 
ent surroundings and busy with memories which the 
Asters and Golden-rod had stirred. As she looked up 
with a half sigh, Sadie said : “ You love flowers?” 
“O very much! Wild ones particularly. I used to 
gather such as those when I was a little girl. I used to 
trim my sun-hat with them, and up by the old school" 
house on the hill my girlhood’s friend and I had a plot 
of them walled round with stones. I hav’nt seen them 
in years before, my home having been in the far West.” 
“I am taking these to a friend whose favorite flowers 
they used to be; but you must please accept half of them.” 
The lady thanked her but declined the gift, saying 
she could not rob her of them. 
“You will not rob her, for I can send her a box full,” 
separating the flowers as she spoke. 
The lady’s lips quivered, and her eyes grew moist as 
she gratefully accepted them. She told Sadie that she 
was on her way back to her home in the West, having 
made a hurried trip to the East to see her sou, who had 
been quite ill, but was now convalescent. Her imme¬ 
diate presence was required at home and she was ob¬ 
liged to return alone, the friend with whom she bad 
come not returning for some weeks. “I am so unused 
to traveling alone that I am quite timid,” she said with 
a deprecating look and smile. 
Sadie did all in her power to make her comfortable as 
far as their ways lay together, and enjoyed her com¬ 
panionship, since she was very intelligent and cultured, 
as further conversation revealed. When they reached 
K-they parted with real regret; Sadie wishing the 
lady, whose name she did not know, a safe and pleasant 
journey. 
Laura was delighted with the flowers, which had 
kept wonderfully fresh, more than delighted to see her 
friend, and in the happy, busy days which followed, all 
remembrance of the lady with whom she had shared 
the flowers gradually faded from Sadie’s mind. 
One day there came a letter from home in Harry’s 
handwriting which contained the following paragraph : 
“The other day the expressman brought a box ad¬ 
dressed to you. Mother was dying with curiosity to 
know what was in it. Of course, I had none, being a man, 
but at her solicitation I opened the box. It contained 
a beautiful panel painted in oils, of Wild Asters, with a 
spray of Golclen-rod. Underneath lay a card, on one 
side of which was inscribed : ‘ Geo. L. Cranstoun, Bos¬ 
ton, Mass.’ One the other: ‘ Will Miss Farnham please 
accept as a slight token of gratitude for kindness shown 
my mother while traveling.’ 
“ I wrote to Charlie Livingston, inquiring in a casual 
way if he knew him. When he replied, he spoke very 
enthusiastically of him, and asked where I had met 
him. So father wrote to young C., acknowledging re¬ 
ceipt of box, with thanks for contents. 
“Now I should like to know, altho’, as you know, I’ve 
no curiosity, what you’ve been up to. Wasn’t my last 
charge to you a solemn warning not to get into 
scrapes ? ” 
Laura declared it was most romantic, quite like a 
story; and when Sadie left for home declared she knew 
her departure was hastened by a desire to see that 
panel. 
Sadie had no adventure during the homeward jour¬ 
ney, having a seat to herself most of the way. The re¬ 
mainder of it was occupied by an old gentleman who 
took snuff and had catarrh, saying “ um 1 um 1” in the 
most emphatic manner after each application of hia 
handkerchief. 
The panel was almost the first thing shown Sadie on 
her arrival. 
“ And how did you happen to give your name and 
address to an entire stranger?” chorused the family. 
“ Why I didn’t.” 
“ How did she know it, then?” 
Just then Harry’s eye happened to fall on the pretty 
bag with its silver plate. In a voice brimming with 
mischief he read : “Miss Sadie M. Farnham, Pleasant- 
ville, Me.,” and added: “I suppose you labelled your¬ 
self with that all the way, didn’t you Sadie, like a pack¬ 
age sent by express ? ” 
“ The idea ! I kept the plate out of sight all the way; 
but I left it on the seat once when I went out to get 
some lunch.” 
“It’s wonderful to me,” said Harry, “that you 
didn’t leave it somewhere altogether, that being your 
usual custom.” 
******* 
Autumn passed away, and early winter. With Christ¬ 
mas came another package by express to Sadie in care 
of her father. The box when opened was found to con¬ 
tain a beautiful lace pin, the design a spray of Asters, 
from Mrs. Cranstoun. Later came a very charming- 
letter from the lady, begging Sadie’s acceptance of the 
gift. 
All the young readers are saying, “ Why does’nt she 
hurry up and tell where Mr. Cranstoun came to see 
Sadie, made love, and was accepted?” 
My dear girls, I leave you to imagine that part, and I 
will simply tell you that Mr. C. came up with Charlie 
Livingston at New Year, and when the Asters bloomed 
again there was a quiet wedding in which Sadie Fam- 
liam and Geo. Cranstoun were central figures. 
And the bride wore Asters instead of orange blossoms 
—how odd? 
Anabel C. Andrews. 
OUR NATIVE GRASSES. 
No longer can we look to our gardens for either 
bright flowers or green foliage with which to replenish 
the withered stalks and blossoms in our vases. 
November’s hard frosts have destroyed the last vestige 
of green leaf and branch in our beds that through the 
summer and early fall months were gay with flowers. 
Already the soil is frozen about their roots, and a dreary 
array of blackened and bleached stalks meet the eye 
