violet and peony, of course, her own two darling children. ah, but whom or what did she see besides? why, if you will believe me, there was a small figure of a girl, dressed all in white, with rose-tinged cheeks and ringlets of golden hue, playing about the garden with the two children! a stranger though she was, the child seemed to be on as familiar terms with violet and peony, and they with her, as if all the three had been playmates during the whole of their little lives. the mother thought to herself that it must certainly be the daughter of one of the neighbors, and that, seeing violet and peony in the garden, the child had run across the street to play with them. so this kind lady went to the door, intending to invite the little runaway into her comfortable parlor; for, now that the sunshine was withdrawn, the atmosphere, out of doors, was already growing very cold.