"'I've seen you in my dreams all my life,' he replied, looking at her so earnestly that the color deepened on her cheek.
"'I never heard anything so queer in all my life,' said Ninon.
"'You have much to learn,' said the stranger.
"'Yes,' said Ninon, humbly; 'as mother says, I'm only a little child.'
"'You are not a little child; you are a beautiful maiden, Ninon,' said the stranger, earnestly.
"'Nonsense!' she said blushingly. 'I'll never be that.' But she liked to hear him say it, nevertheless," Lottie added with an accent that again brought out a round of applause.
"I'm taking too much time," Lottie said, deprecatingly.
"Go on, go on," was the unanimous cry; and her little brother Dan, who had dropped nuts and apples and was leaning open-mouthed on her knees, said, "Lottie, if you don't go on, I'll do something dreadful."
So Lottie continued: "And the tall stranger smiled down upon her and said, 'Violets are my favorite flower, and you are a modest little violet.'
"'Now you are wrong again,' said Ninon; 'violets are a pale blue flower, and my cheeks are burning so oddly—I never had them do so before. I know I look like the peonies in the cure's garden.'