The sun had gone down, and the evening was beautiful.

Mrs.Bell was sitting in a low rocking-chair, on a little covered platform, near the door, which they called the stoop.

There were two seats, one on each side of the stoop, and there was a vine climbing over it.

Mrs.Bell was knitting.

Mary Bell, who was then about six years old, was playing about the yard, watching the butterflies, and gathering flowers.
"You may stay here and play a little while," said Mary Erskine to Mary Bell.