"Were you once little too?" they say, astonished;
"Did you too play? How funny! tell us how."
Almost we start, forgetful for a moment;
Almost we answer, "We are little now! "
Dear friend and lover, whom to-day we christen,
Forgive such brief bewilderment,—thy true
And kindly hand we hold; we own thee fairest.
But ah! our yesterday was precious too.
So, darlings, take this little childish story,
In which some gleams of the old sunshine play,
And, as with careless hands you turn the pages,
Look back and smile, as here I smile to-day.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I [THE LITTLE CARRS]
II [PARADISE]
III [THE DAY OF SCRAPES]
IV [KIKERI]
V [IN THE LOFT]
VI [INTIMATE FRIENDS]
VII [COUSIN HELEN'S VISIT]
VIII [TO-MORROW]
IX [DISMAL DAYS]
X [ST. NICHOLAS AND ST. VALENTINE]
XI [A NEW LESSON TO LEARN]
XII [TWO YEARS AFTERWARD]
XIII [AT LAST]
CHAPTER I
THE LITTLE CARRS
I was sitting in the meadows one day, not long ago, at a place where there was a small brook. It was a hot day. The sky was very blue, and white clouds, like great swans, went floating over it to and fro. Just opposite me was a clump of green rushes, with dark velvety spikes, and among them one single tall, red cardinal flower, which was bending over the brook as if to see its own beautiful face in the water. But the cardinal did not seem to be vain.