The Basket of Flowers

The simple story which is told in this little book treats of things which happened a long time ago in a foreign country, where the manners and customs are widely different from...

The winter had now set in with threatenings of severity. Already the mountain and valley round about the farm were covered with deep snow. The weakness which old James had been...

Shortly after Mary had left the Castle the Countess missed a valuable diamond ring. No one had been in the room where she had left it but Mary, and it is not surprising that sus...

In the village of Eichbourg the case of Mary and the missing ring were the only subjects of conversation, and many were the speculations as to what the result of the case would...

One day, early in the charming month of May, Mary went into a wood near her home to get some branches and twigs of the willow and hazel. When her father was not busily engaged i...

The road to the castle towards which the Countess now led Mary, lay through a long and dark walk of tall old linden trees. For a while they walked in silence together, each wrap...

When at last Mary could no longer hide from herself the seriousness of her father's illness, she went to the minister of the parish in which Pine Cottage was situated and asked...

"God is surely with you, dear Mary," said she, "and has taken you under His protection. I see now that He has guided my steps here in order that I might find you for whom we hav...

James and his daughter were now settled down in a place which they could call home; they furnished their rooms in a simple style, with nothing more than they needed for everyday...

After her father's death, Mary was no longer the bright happy girl she had been before. Even her favourite flowers seemed to have lost all their beauty, and the pine trees near...

The months sped on, and now the anniversary of her father's birthday arrived. Until then it had always been to Mary a day of great joy, but this time, when the day dawned, she w...

The next spring, when the country was covered with verdure and flowers, the Count, accompanied by his wife, and daughter, and Mary, went to his home at Eichbourg. Towards evenin...

"For three days," he said, "it has been before us, and we have not made the least advance towards the solution of the mystery. If I could see any possibility of the ring having...

Although their hearts were thus sustained by faith in God, the journey on which Mary and her father now started was a long and painful one. For days they were unable to find a l...

The Count and his family were just on the eve of leaving for Eichbourg, and next morning at break of day all was bustle in the castle, preparing for their departure. In the mids...

We have already said that Mary was in a faint when she was carried off to prison. When she recovered to realise her condition, she burst into passionate sobbing, but at length,...

In course of time, when arrangements had been made for their reception, a carriage was sent from Eichbourg to bring away the old farmer and his wife. Their son was grieved to th...

Early in the morning, and almost before she was awake, an officer came to Mary's cell to bring her forth for trial. At the sight of the room in which the court was held she trem...

Immediately after leaving Pine Farm, Mary went with the Count's family to the city, in which they spent part of every year. While they were there, a clergyman came one morning t...

Mary sat down on the stone near the wall shaded by the thick foliage of a tree which covered her with its dark branches. Here she poured out her soul in fervent prayer to God. S...

The Count, the Countess, and the guests who were at the castle, were assembled in the drawing-room when Amelia and Mary entered. The worthy minister had arrived before them, and...