'She mentioned some peculiar kind of fern.
'"Permit me to row you across, and you can select them for yourself."
'Her eyes sparkled with pleasure, but she hesitated.
'"You mistrust a stranger," said I; "and perhaps your papa might be displeased—"
'"Poor papa is dead; but mamma would, I know, be angry. She is full of strict and strange notions; thus I can never venture far alone."
'"But the distance is so short—"
'"And she is always busy at this hour."
'"Come, then."
'She confidingly put her little hand in mine, sprang with charming grace lightly into the cushioned seat astern, and exclaimed with girlish delight:
'"What a lovely boat! How delicious this is! Though we live only a mile from the Tay, I have never had a row on it."