The observer on the carriage-block
thought it the most attractive house she had ever seen. Everything
about it told of pleasant times: the tennis net, the hammock under the
trees, the broad piazza, and, most of all, the wide front door which
seemed to invite her to come in and see what sort of people lived
behind it. "I wonder who lives here. I wish I knew. I believe I'll
follow the cat and find out," she thought merrily.
At this moment the door opened and two little girls appeared, all in a
flutter of dainty blue ruffles. Each carried a cushion, and one had
what looked like an atlas under her arm.
"Shall we sit on the porch, Bess?" asked the one with yellow hair.
"Oh, no, Louise, don't you think it will be pleasanter under the
chestnut tree?" the brown-haired maiden said; and then they came
across the grass and settled themselves under the horse-chestnut, the
branches of which met those of the maple tree that cast its shade over
the carriage-block. They were quite unconscious of the wistful eyes
that watched them as they bent over the atlas, from which Louise took
some large sheets of paper.
"How pretty they are! I wish I knew them," the owner of the eyes said
to herself. Then, feeling rather shy in the presence of these charming
little persons who might look around presently and wonder what she was
doing there, she rose and took up her umbrella.
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