Hildegarde's Home Author:Laura E. Richards Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER III. MORNING" HOURS. "The year's at the spring, And day's at the morn: Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew-pearled : The lark's on the wing; Th... more »e snail's on the thorn; God's in his heaven — All's right with the world!" These seemed the most natural words to sing, as Hildegarde looked out of her window next morning; and sing them she did, with all her heart, as she threw open the shutters and let the glad June sunlight stream into the room. All sad thoughts were gone with the night, and now there seemed nothing but joy in the world. "Where art thou, tub of my heart?" cried the girl; and she dived under the bed, and pulled out the third reason for her choosing this room. Her mother, she knew, would not change for anything the comfortable "sitz," the friend of many years; so Hilde- garde felt at full liberty to enjoy this great white porcelain tub, shallow, three feet across, with red and blue fishes swimming all over it. She did not know that Captain Robert Aytoun had brought it in the hold of his ship all the way from Singapore, for his little Hester, but she did know that it was the most delightful tub she had ever dreamed of; and as she splashed the crystal water about, she almost ceased, for the first time, to regret the blue river which had been her daily bathing-place the summer before. Very fresh and sweet she looked, when at last the long locks were braided in one great smooth braid, and the pretty grey gingham put on and smootheddown. She nodded cheerfully to her image in the glass. It was, as dear Cousin "Wealthy said, a privilege to be good-looking, and Hil- degarde was simply and honestly glad of her beauty. "Now," she said, when the room was " picked up," and everything aerable hung up to air, " the question is, Go out first and arrange the Pe...« less