CONTENTS.
[CHAPTER I. SWEET SEVENTEEN]
[CHAPTER II. BERTIE]
[CHAPTER III. GENTLE ANNIE]
[CHAPTER IV. SATURDAY AT HOME]
[CHAPTER V. A WOODLAND WALK]
[CHAPTER VI. VISITORS]
[CHAPTER VII. THE GARRISON SLEIGH CLUB]
[CHAPTER VIII. FIXING UP A PRANCE]
[CHAPTER IX. CROSS PURPOSES]
[CHAPTER X. TOBOGGINING]
[CHAPTER XI. EFFECTS OF TOBOGGINING]
[CHAPTER XII. THE LAKE SHORE ROAD]
[CHAPTER XIII. NORTHERN LIGHTS]
[CHAPTER XIV. THE TRYST]
[CHAPTER XV. AN ENIGMATICAL LETTER]
[CHAPTER XVI. DETECTED]
[CHAPTER XVII. DID YOU PROPOSE THEN?]
[CHAPTER XVIII. LYNDON'S LANDING]
[CHAPTER XIX. CALF LOVE]
[CHAPTER XX. THE PRINCE PHILANDER]
[CHAPTER XXI. A PERILOUS SAIL]
[CHAPTER XXII. AT LAST]
[CHAPTER XXIII. LOLA'S BIRTHDAY]
[CHAPTER XXIV. LITTLE PITCHERS]
[CHAPTER XXV. CHANGES]
[CHAPTER XXVI. CROSSING THE HERRING POND]
[CHAPTER XXVII. HARRY DUTTON]
[CHAPTER XXVIII. ROUGH WEATHER]
[CHAPTER XXIX. BLUEBELL'S DEBUT IN THE OLD COUNTRY]
[CHAPTER XXX. NO CARDS]
[CHAPTER XXXI. BROMLEY TOWERS]
[CHAPTER XXXII. THE SPRING WOODS]
[CHAPTER XXXIII. LORD BROMLEY INTERVIEWS DUTTON]
[CHAPTER XXXIV. HARRY GOES TO THE BALTIC]
[CHAPTER XXXV. A DISCOVERY]
[CHAPTER XXXVI. IN DEATH THEY WERE NOT DIVIDED]
[CHAPTER XXXVII. AN UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE]
[CHAPTER XXXVIII. OLD HEAD ON YOUNG SHOULDERS]
[CHAPTER XXXIX. THE LOAN OF A LOVER]
[CHAPTER XL. THE MINIATURE]
[CHAPTER XLI. A LOCK OF HAIR]
BLUEBELL
CHAPTER I.
SWEET SEVENTEEN.
I see her now—the vision fair,
Of candour, innocence, and truth,
Stand tiptoe on the verge of air,
'Twixt childhood and unstable youth.
It was the "fall" in Canada, and the leaves were dying royally in purple, crimson and gold. On the edge of a common, skirting a well-known city of Ontario, stood a small, rough-cast cottage, behind which the sun was setting with a red promise of frost, his flaming tints repeated in the fervid hue of the Virginian creeper that clothed it.
This modest tenement was the retreat of three unprotected females, two of whom were seated in silent occupation close to a black stove, which imparted heat, but denied cheerfulness. The elder was grey and tintless as her life,—harsh wisdom wrung from sad experience ever on lips thin and tight, as though from habitually repressing every desire. The younger, a widow, was scarcely passed middle age, small of stature, but wizened beyond her years by privation and sorrow.