Free Novel Read

The Flower Princess




  THE FLOWER PRINCESS

  * * * * *

  By Abbie Farwell Brown

  THE FLOWER PRINCESS. Illustrated. Sq. 12mo, $1.00.

  THE CURIOUS BOOK OF BIRDS. Illustrated. Square 12mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.21.

  A POCKETFUL OF POSIES. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.00, _net_. Postpaid, $1.09.

  IN THE DAYS OF GIANTS. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.10, _net_. Postpaid, $1.21. _School edition_, 50 cents, _net_, postpaid.

  THE BOOK OF SAINTS AND FRIENDLY BEASTS. Illustrated, 12mo, $1.25.

  THE LONESOMEST DOLL. Illustrated. Sq. 12mo, 85 cents, _net_. Postpaid, 95 cents.

  HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK

  * * * * *

  THE FLOWER PRINCESS

  LET HIM PROVE IT]

  THE FLOWER PRINCESS

  by

  ABBIE FARWELL BROWN

  Boston and New YorkHoughton Mifflin and Company

  The Riverside Press Cambridge1904

  Copyright 1904 by Abbie Farwell BrownAll Rights Reserved

  Published September, 1904

  _Oh, give me for a little space To see with childlike eyes This curious world, our dwelling-place Of wonder and surprise. . . ._

  _The long, long road from Day to Night Winds on through constant change, Whereon one hazards with delight Adventures new and strange;_

  _The wonders of the earth and sky! The magic of the sea! The mysteries of beast and fly, Of bird and flower and tree!_

  _One feels the breath of holy things Unseen along the road, The whispering of angel wings, The neighboring of Good._

  _And Beauty must be good and true, One battles for her sake; But Wickedness is foul to view, So one cannot mistake. . . ._

  _Ah, give me with the childlike sight The simple tongue and clear Wherewith to read the vision right Unto a childish ear._

  Acknowledgments are due the publishers of _The Churchman_ for permission to reprint "The Flower Princess" and "The Little Friend;" also to the _Brown Book_ of Boston for permission to use "The Ten Blowers," which first appeared in that magazine.

  CONTENTS

  THE FLOWER PRINCESS 1

  THE LITTLE FRIEND 45

  THE MERMAID'S CHILD 67

  THE TEN BLOWERS 103

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  LET HIM PROVE IT (page 31) _Frontispiece_

  THE PRINCESS FLEURETTE 10

  UNTIL SHE CLAPPED HER HANDS FOR JOY 18

  UNTIL HELP COMES 56

  YOU WILL BRING HIM BACK TO ME? 86

  ONE MORE BLOW FOR OUR KING 124