At that season the wild flowers had mostly departed, but a few of them lingered, and Miss Garland never failed to espy them in their outlying corners.

They interested her greatly; she was charmed when they were old friends, and charmed even more when they were new.

She displayed a very light foot in going in quest of them, and had soon covered the front seat of the carriage with a tangle of strange vegetation.

Rowland of course was alert in her service, and he gathered for her several botanical specimens which at first seemed inaccessible.
One of these, indeed, had at first appeared easier of capture than his attempt attested, and he had paused a moment at the base of the little peak on which it grew, measuring the risk of farther pursuit.

Suddenly, as he stood there, he remembered Roderick's defiance of danger and of Miss Light, at the Coliseum, and he was seized with a strong desire to test the courage of his companion.