Page:Traits and Trials.pdf/48

42 of them beautiful. But now the colours of the garden were at their richest—the dahlias, those magnificent strangers, spread around their oriental magnificence white, scarlet, crimson, orange, like the livery of a court, when a King assembles his nobles in the bravest attire. The geraniums too were in full blossom, and as various in kind and colour as the rose; nor was the rose herself wanting, the delicate species called Chinese. Singular that what seems but, to look at, the most fragile of its kind, should yet linger to the last, and smile even amid the snows. The children felt the influence of the soft and balmy hour. Their colour, as they wandered through the garden, became even more bright, though less feverish. The interest of their employment occupied them entirely, and exercise and sunshine made them cheerful as usual. At last the important task was completed, the rose-bud arranged with the myrtle and the geranium, and the heliotrope gave its sweet breath like incense; but some white ribbon was wanted to tie the prettily