Faith's trained eyes fell first upon the tiny, dark object, sunning himself happily in all his baby innocence, and blinking at the lovely green world surrounding his shallow stone. Her heart beat fast and she said to herself, "Oh, I know it's a common one!" She tiptoed swiftly nearer. It was not a common one. It was a prince! It was a prince!
She didn't know whether to laugh or cry, as, holding her skirt-bag of turtles with one hand, she lightly tiptoed forward, and, falling on her knees in front of the stone, gathered up the prince, just as he saw her and pushed with his tiny feet to slip off the rock into the brook.
"Oh, oh, oh!" was all she could say as she sat there, swaying herself back and forth, and holding the baby to her flushed cheek.
"What is it? What?" cried Ernest, jumping across the brook to her side. She smiled at him and Gladys without a word, and held up her prize, showing the pretty red under shell, while the baby, very much astonished to find himself turned over in mid air, drew himself into his house.
"Oh, the cunning, cunning thing!" cried Gladys, her eyes flashing radiantly. "I'm so glad we found him!"
Gladys, like a good many beside herself, became fired with enthusiasm to possess whatever she saw to be precious in the sight of others. Yesterday, had she seen the baby prince in some store she would not have thought of asking her mother to buy it for her; but to-day it had been captured, a little wild creature for which Faith had been searching and hoping during two summers; and poor Gladys had been so busy all her life wondering what people were going to get for her, and wondering whether she should like it very well when she had it, that now, instead of rejoicing that Faith had such a pleasure, she began to feel a hot unrest and dissatisfaction in her breast.
"He is a little beauty," she said, and then looked at her cousin and waited for her to present to her guest the baby turtle.
"Why didn't I see it first?" she thought, her heart beating fast, for Faith showed no sign of giving up her treasure. "Do you suppose we could find another?" she asked aloud, making her wistfulness very apparent as they again took up the march toward home.
"Well, I guess not," laughed Ernest. "Two of those in a day? I guess not. Let me carry it for you, Faith. You have to hold up your dress skirt."
"Oh, thank you, Ernest, I don't mind, and he's so cunning!"