Sometimes they come quite near." She used, in fact, to take her letter-writing and sewing to the sweet, secluded place and spend hours of pure, restful bliss.

It seemed to her that her life became more lovely day by day.
[Illustration: Hester Osborn] Hester did not like the pool.

She thought it too lonely and silent.

She preferred her beflowered boudoir or the sunny garden.

Sometimes in these days she feared to follow her own thoughts.