The strawberry gardens at Earlescourt were very extensive.

Far down among the green beds Ronald Earle saw a young girl kneeling, gathering the ripe fruit, which she placed in a large basket lined with leaves, and he went down to her.
"I should like a few of those strawberries," he said, gently, and she raised to his a face he never forgot.

Involuntarily he raised his hat, in homage to her youth and her shy, sweet beauty.

"For whom are you gathering these ?" he asked, wondering who she was, and whence she came.
In a moment the young girl stood up, and made the prettiest and most graceful of courtesies.
"They are for the housekeeper, sir," she replied; and her voice was musical and clear as a silver bell.
"Then may I ask who you are ?" continued Ronald.
"I am Dora Thorne," she replied, "the lodge keeper's daughter." "How is it I have never seen you before ?" he asked.
"Because I have lived always with my aunt, at Dale," she replied.

"I only came home last year." "I see," said Ronald.