He wandered about the woods for two or three hours, impatient for the return of the little rural goddess who had taken possession of his thoughts, and filled his soul with admiration. She came at last, and glad was the welcome which he gave her.
"I have been thinking of you ever since I left you," said Julia, as she approached the place where he had been waiting her return.
Harry thought this was a remarkable coincidence. He had been thinking of her also.
"I hope you didn't think of me as a bad boy," replied he, giving expression to that which was uppermost in his mind.
"I am sure I didn't. I am sure you must be a good boy."
"I am glad you think so; and that will help me be a good boy."
"Will it?"
"I never had any one to care whether I was good or bad. If you do, you will be the first one."
The little girl looked sad. She had a father and mother who loved her, and prayed for her every day. It seemed hard that poor Harry should have no mother to love him as her mother loved her; to watch over him day and night, to take care of him when he was sick, and, above all, to teach him to be good. She pitied the lonely orphan, and would gladly have taken him to her happy home, and shared with him all she had, even the love of her mother.
"Poor boy!" she sighed. "But I have been thinking of something," she added, in more sprightly tones.