Page:The New-Year's Bargain (1884).djvu/89

 entice him with caresses; but he shook himself free, and, signing to some distant part of the wood where his home lay, he emptied the flowers from his quiver, threw back his black hair with a toss, and with a few active bounds disappeared from their sight. Ruth cried after him, 'Ally! Ally!' but it was all in vain. He was gone; and he never came back."

"And what became of Ruth and Baby?" asked Thekla.

"Oh! they went home with their Father and Mother; and good care was taken that they should not stray again. I used to visit them sometimes, and play with their hair and soft cheeks; and I taught them to call the pink blossoms by my name. 'May-flowers' they are termed to this day; and they are such favorites, that I plant immense beds of them in that country every spring, and then people grumble that there are not enough."

"And is that all about the little girls?" persisted Thekla.

"Dear me!" said May, "you are hard to sat-