"It is so nice here," Nance replied. "May I come often? You do not know what it means to have a white woman to talk to."
"But it seems to me that you have learned many things here in the wilderness, Nance. Unless you had told me I could not believe that you had never been with a white woman before. I suppose it was your father who taught you so much."
"Yes, daddy has been so good, and he knows most everything. Besides, I learned so much from the books I read, and how white women lived and talked. But there is one person who has been of such great help to me."
"What, some one living here?" the nurse asked.
"Oh, no. I have never seen her, but I have heard much about her."
"From whom?"
"From daddy. When I was quite young he told me many things about her, and I have always kept her in my mind, and tried to be just like her."
"Indeed! Tell me more, please," and the nurse settled herself in a more comfortable position.
"Well, when I was very small daddy used to tell me fairy tales, which were so interesting. The one I liked best of all was about the man who had a beautiful garden. There were all kinds of flowers, and he had to care for them. Then one day he hurt one of the flowers, and he was not allowed to look after the garden any longer. He went away and wandered about from place to place for years. At last he went into the wilderness, and there he found a little flower, which he took with him, and they lived together for a long time. The name of that little flower was Heart's Ease. Don't you think it is a pretty story?"
"And was Heart's Ease the name of the woman you had in your mind all of these years?" and the nurse looked questioningly into the face of the young story teller.