she thought to herself, "I was looking at that
spot only a moment ago. How strange it ia
that I did not see the flowers!"

The nearer she approached the shrub, the
more attractive it looked, until she came quite
close to it; and then, although its beauty was
richer than words can tell, she hardly knew
whether to like it or not. It bore above a hun-
dred flowers of the most brilliant hues, and each
different from the others, but all having a kind
of resemblance among themselves, which showed
them to be sister blossoms. But there was a
deep, glossy lustre on the leaves of the shrub,
and on the petals of the flowers, that made Pro-
serpina doubt whether they might not be poison-
ous. To tell you the truth, foolish as it may
seem, she was half inclined to turn round and
run away.

"What a silly child I am!" thought she, tak-
ing courage. "It is really the most beautiful
shrub that ever sprang out of the earth. I will
pull it up by the roots, and carry it home, and
plant it in my mother's garden."

Holding up her apron full of flov ers with hei
left hand, Proserpina seized the large shrub with

[[218]]

p217 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p218w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p219

v?