Book Description

Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. SATURDAY MORNING AT OAKLANDS. ATURDAY morning dawned clear and warm. The grass glittered and the lata roses bent their heads under a weight of diamond dew. Helen came into the breakfast room with a great bunch of roses in her hand; her feet wet with dew, but her eyes and cheeks glowing. My dear Helen, remonstrated her mother as she entered, how could you go out while the grass was so wet ? How could I stay in, mamma, when the roses were so pretty? said Helen, lightly touching her mother's cheek with the cool fragrant flowers. Cousin Ella has been out, too; scold her a little. But it was impossible forMrs. Conway to scold either of the smiling culprits. A kiss from each of them turned the threatened scolding into a mild Come to breakfast, children, and each took her accustomed seat at the well spread breakfast table. The table was as comfortable and elegant in its appearance as shining silver, delicate china, and snowy damask could make it, while that must have been a dainty appetite indeed which could fail to be tempted by the nice rolls and biscuit, the brown corn bread, the golden butter, and ruddy ham, that covered the board, and the fragrant coffee that sent up its steam, like incense, from the iiru. Helen's dewy flowers added the last touch of daintiness to the appearance of the table. Around this cheerful, abundant breakfast table were all of the Oaklands family with one exception. At the foot sat Mr. Couway, a dark-eyed, care-worn man of forty, generally yery silent and grave. To-day he was in one of his gravest, most silent moods. On his left, perched in a high chair, sat little stolid rosycheeked Charlie, who was four years old, and on his right was a handsome boy of nearly fourteen. This was Bland, a gay bright reckle...