"Well," said Tom, "I think we must say good-bye, Charley; it's about time for us to go home."
"We must not forget the box of birds' eggs; and thank you," said Jack.
"No," said Charley; "I'll fetch the box and go home part of the way with you. It's a very fine evening for a walk."
VIII.
A TALK WITH AUNT LIZZIE.
"I can show you the spot where the hyacinth wild
Hangs out her bell blossoms of blue,
And tell where the celandine's bright-eyed child
Fills her chalice with honey-dew,—
The purple-dyed violet, the hawthorn and sloe,
The creepers that trail in the lane,
The dragon, the daisy, and clover-rose, too,
And buttercups gilding the plain."
Edward Capern.
After the boys had started for Charley Foster's, the little girls went upstairs into what was once the nursery, where Tom and Katey kept all their toys and books and learned their lessons; in fact it was still the children's room.
Katey showed her cousins her various belongings, and said, "I'm afraid I have not anything so pretty to show you as Tom's birds' eggs. I thought I would make a collection of wild flowers and leaves, and press them and fasten them on to paper. So I began with the leaves of the forest trees, and here they are."