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  THE BASKET OF FLOWERS

  "An officer came to Mary's cell."_See page 36._]

  THE BASKET OF FLOWERS

  By

  CHRISTOPH VON SCHMID

  With Illustrations By

  WATSON CHARLTON and W. E. EVANS.

  Published byJOHN F. SHAW & CO., LTD.,3, Pilgrim Street, London.

  PUBLISHER'S NOTE

  In putting forward a new edition of _The Basket of Flowers_ no apologyis needed. This charming story is now something of a children'sclassic, and the only merits that the publisher can claim for thepresent edition are variety in the manner of the illustration and theoutward design of the book. To these may be added, perhaps, the furtherclaim that in the present English version, which is copyright, some ofthe more glaring faults that mar the original translation are avoided.For the rest, it is hoped that the charm of the original has beenmaintained.

  CONTENTS

  CHAP. Page

  I. THE GARDENER'S DAUGHTER 1 II. THE BASKET OF FLOWERS 12 III. THE MISSING RING 21 IV. MARY IN PRISON 30 V. THE TRIAL 36 VI. A PAINFUL MEETING 42 VII. SENTENCED 49 VIII. FINDING NEW FRIENDS 58 IX. A NEW HOME 65 X. A FATHER'S LAST WORDS 72 XI. MARY'S GREAT LOSS 82 XII. CHANGES AT PINE FARM 90 XIII. AGAIN A WANDERER 97 XIV. A STRANGE MEETING 104 XV. THE YOUNG COUNTESS'S STORY 108 XVI. HOW THE RING WAS FOUND 115 XVII. REPARATION 123XVIII. PINE FARM REVISITED 127 XIX. RETRIBUTION 134 XX. FORGIVING AN ENEMY 140 XXI. CONCLUSION 145

  LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

  AN OFFICER CAME TO MARY'S CELL _Frontispiece_

  _Facing p._

  MARY SHYLY OFFERED HER PRESENT 16

  "OH, MY FATHER, BE SURE THAT I HAVE NOT THE RING" 32

  SHE RAISED HERSELF HASTILY, FORGETTING HER CHAINS 48

  SHE THREW THE BASKET AT MARY'S FEET 64

  LOOKING UP SHE SAW THE BEAUTIFUL FACE ANDFIGURE OF A WOMAN 96

  MARY WAS AFFECTED TO THE HEART WHEN SHEHEARD JULIETTE'S STORY 144

  THE BASKET OF FLOWERS

  CHAPTER I.

  THE GARDENER'S DAUGHTER.

  The simple story which is told in this little book treats of thingswhich happened a long time ago in a foreign country, where the mannersand customs are widely different from our own. It is necessary toexplain this at the beginning, because the reader will meet withincidents in the narrative which would otherwise seem strange andinconsistent. Two lessons which the story teaches, however, may belearned in all countries. The first is that the human heart has fromthe beginning been full of sin, producing, for the most part, evilfruit, which results in misery; and in the second place, that there isonly one remedy for this state of the soul, the remedy of God's HolySpirit, which, wherever it enters, produces the fruits of righteousnessand perfect peace. It is because we believe that the study of theseopposing principles as exhibited in the experience of others may beprofitable to young readers, that the story of the Basket of Flowers isnow presented.

  James Rode, who, with his daughter Mary, forms the subject of our tale,lived over one hundred years ago in the village of Eichbourg, inGermany. When he was very young his parents sent him to be trained as agardener in the beautiful grounds of the Count of Eichbourg. James wasa bright, intelligent lad, fond of work, and of an amiable disposition,and he soon made himself a favourite with the people among whom heassociated. His happy genial disposition and his readiness to obligeendeared him to all with whom he came in contact. The secret of James'character lay deeper than mere disposition. He had early given hisheart to the Lord Jesus Christ, and the amiable qualities which he nowdisplayed were the fruits of the Holy Spirit which had been implantedin him. But it was not only among his companions that James was wellliked. He was a favourite with the Count's children, and so modest andunassuming was his behaviour that he was sometimes allowed to be in theCastle with them, and to share in the lessons which they got.

  Being of an intelligent turn of mind, James profited by all theadvantages which his position gave him, and, after his engagement wascompleted, the Count offered him a well-paid position in his largehousehold at Vienna. It was a temptation for James, who had theambition common to young men, and, but for one thing, he would havegladly accepted his master's offer. The Count was a kind man, but hewas not a Christian, and God was not honoured in his household. Jamesknew that if he took the place in his house, he might be asked to dothings which as a Christian he believed to be wrong; and so he decidedto refuse the offer, tempting as it was, and to remain in the humbleposition in which he had been born. The Count was not offended withJames for his decision; and to show his respect for him he gave him aneasy lease of a little property, consisting of a cottage, awell-stocked orchard, and a kitchen garden.

  By and by James married a young woman, whose principles, like his own,were deeply religious, and together they lived in comfort and harmonymany years. Then children came to brighten their life, but one afteranother was taken away, and at last only Mary remained, whose historythis story is mainly occupied in telling.

  When James Rode was a little over sixty years of age his wife died.Mary was now five years old, and a fine, beautiful girl. The neighbourswere foolish enough sometimes to call her pretty to her face, and,although this was a dangerous thing to do, it had not the effect ofspoiling her. Besides being beautiful in face, Mary had a beautifulcharacter, and was modest and obedient, and possessed unbounded lovefor her father. When she came to be fifteen years of age, she becameher father's housekeeper, and so thorough and constant were her habitsof cleanliness that the kitchen utensils shone brightly enough to beeasily mistaken for new.

  We have already informed our readers that her father, James Rode,earned his living as a gardener. Twice a week he carried the vegetablesand fruit which he cultivated to the nearest market-town. But, whilethe growing of fruits and vegetables had to be looked after in order tosecure his subsistence, his greatest delight was in the cultivation offlowers; and in this pleasant task Mary assisted him every hour whichshe could spare from the work of the house. She counted the hoursdevoted to this task among the happiest of her life, for her father hadthe art of turning labour into pleasure by his interesting andentertaining conversation. To Mary, who had grown up, as it were, inthe midst of plants, there had come a natural taste for flowers, andthe garden was to her a little world. She was never at a loss for adelightful occupation, for every hour which she had at her disposal wasspent in cultivating the young plants with the utmost care.

  Specially did she find pleasure in studying the buds of every strangespecies. Her young imagination delighted in picturing what kind offlowers they would become; and so impatient was she to see herexpectations fulfilled, that she was hardly able to wait until theflowers had unfolded. When the flower for
which she had waited longappeared in all its beauty, the sight filled her with a strange joy. Intruth, there was not a day which did not bring some new pleasure toMary's heart. Sometimes it was by a stranger passing the garden andstopping to admire the beauty of the flowers. The children of theneighbourhood, as they passed on their way to school, never failed topeep through the hedge, and were generally rewarded by Mary with somelittle present of flowers as a token of her goodwill.

  James, as a wise father, knew how to direct the taste of his daughtertowards the most noble ends. Often he used to say, "Let others spendtheir money for jewels and silks and other adornments; I will spendmine for flower-seeds. Silks and satins and jewels cannot procure forour children so pure a pleasure as these beautiful exhibitions of thewisdom and benevolence of God."

  In the beauty of the various flowers which adorned their garden, in thecharming variety of their shapes, in the perfection of theirproportions, in the glory of their colours, and in the sweetness oftheir perfumes, he taught Mary to see and admire the power and wisdomand goodness of God. It was his custom to begin each day with God byspending the first hours of the morning in prayer; and, in order toaccomplish this without neglecting his work, it was his habit to riseearly. In the beautiful days of spring and summer, James would leadMary to an arbour in the garden, and, while the birds sang their joyoussongs, and the dew sparkled on the grass and flowers, he delighted totalk with his daughter of God, whose bounty sent the sun and the dew,and brought forth the beauty and life of the world. It was here that hefirst instilled into Mary's mind the idea of God as the tender Fatherof mankind, whose love was manifested not only in all the beautifulworks of nature, which were round them, but above all in the gift ofJesus Christ. It was in this arbour that James had the happiness ofseeing Mary's heart gradually unfold to the reception of the truth.

  Once in the early part of March, when with shining eyes and boundingfeet she brought him the first violet, he said, "Let this beautifulflower serve to you as an emblem of humility and sweetness, by itsmodest colour, its disposition to flourish in hidden places, and thedelicate perfume which it sends forth. May you, my dear child, be likethe violet, modest in your demeanour, careless of gaudy clothing, andseeking to do good without making any fuss about it."

  At the time when the lilies and roses were in full bloom and when thegarden was resplendent with beautiful flowers, the old man, seeing hisdaughter filled with joy, pointed to a lily unfolding in the rays ofthe morning sun. "See, in this lily, my daughter, the symbol ofinnocence. Its leaves are finer than richest satin, and its whitenessequals that of the driven snow. Happy is the daughter whose heart alsois pure, for remember the words, 'The pure in heart shall see God.' Themore pure the colour, the more difficult to preserve its purity. Theslightest spot can spoil the flower of the lily, and so one word canrob the mind of its purity. Let the rose," said he, pointing to thatflower, "be the image of modesty. The blush of a modest girl is morebeautiful than that of the rose."

  Mary's father then made a bouquet of lilies and roses, and, giving itto Mary, he said, "These are brothers and sisters, whose beauty noother flowers can equal. Innocence and modesty are twin sisters, whichcannot be separated. Yes, my dear child, God in His goodness has givento modesty, innocence for a sister and companion, in order that shemight be warned of the approach of danger. Be always modest, and youwill be always virtuous. Oh, if the will of God be so, I pray that youmay be enabled to preserve in your heart the purity of the lily!"

  One ornament of their garden, which James and his daughter most dearlyprized, was a dwarf apple-tree little higher than a rose-bush, whichgrew in a small round bed in the middle of the garden. The old man hadplanted it on his daughter's birthday, and every year it gave them aharvest of beautiful golden yellow apples spotted with red. One seasonit seemed specially promising, and its blossom was more luxurious thanever. Every morning Mary examined it with new delight. One morning shecame as usual, but what a change had taken place! The frost hadwithered all the flowers, which were now brown and yellow and fastbeing shrivelled up by the sun. Poor Mary's sensitive feelings were soaffected that she burst into tears, but her father turned the incidentto good account.

  "Look, my child," said he, "as the frost spoils the apple-blossoms, sowicked pleasures spoil the beauty of youth. Oh, my dear Mary, trembleat the thought of going aside from the path of right. If the timeshould ever come when the delightful hopes which I have had for yourfuture should vanish, I should shed tears more bitter than you do now.I should not enjoy another hour of pleasure, and my grey hairs would bebrought with sorrow to the grave." At the mere thought of such acalamity the old man could not keep back his tears, and his words oftender solicitude made a deep impression on Mary's heart.

  Brought up under the care of a father so wise and loving, Mary grew uplike the flowers of her garden, fresh as the rose, pure like the lily,modest as the violet, and full of promise for the future, as abeautiful shrub in the time of flourishing.

  When James viewed his beautiful garden, with its luxuriant flowers andits prolific fruits, which so well repaid his constant care, it waswith a feeling of satisfaction and gratitude. But this feeling wasnothing compared with the joy he felt when he saw his daughter, as thereward of his pious efforts to train her in the love of God, bringingforth the most precious fruits of the Holy Spirit.