She knelt upon the grass by her flower beds and buried her face in the sweet fragrance of the hyacinths. Her heart was strangely open this Easter Monday to the influences around her.... Yes, spring had come. The long lonely winter was gone. It had been long--long and lonely! But Judge Kirtley had said the case must come up soon. And when it did, she surely would get him. It seemed almost certain now that the bill would pass, and it _must_ help her in some way. Even Judge Kirtley had said it might have its influence with the court. Then her thoughts passed to pleasanter things, for Philip was to spend a whole day with her, and she was to take the children to the Easter Monday egg-rolling. Mammy Cely had laid it before Mr. De Jarnette that any child living within going distance and then not allowed to embrace the opportunity was "jes' bodaciously robbed." And indeed it was almost true, for it is a time-honored festival for the children of Washington in which white, black, and brown participate. Mammy Cely had been coloring eggs for days. That egg-rolling stood out afterwards in Margaret De Jarnette's mind as a day of perfect happiness, save for the knowledge that it must soon end. The delight of the children at the animated scene on the White Lot was unbounded,--that of Mrs. Pennybacker and Bess not far behind it. Even Mr. Harcourt found them before the morning was over, and found them in a characteristic way. The word was passed quietly around that the President would appear at a certain time on the south portico, and the crowd gathered there. The De Jarnette party happened to be standing near a policeman when a distracted mother rushed up to him. "Oh, have you seen my little girl? I've lost her! She is only four! Oh, what shall I do!" "Don't get excited," the policeman said, with a soothing gesture,--"she has been taken over to the east gate." "Oh, have you found her?" "No, but I have found you. Somebody else will find her and take her there. So we will get you together." Hardly had she gone on her way rejoicing before another appeared in like distress. "Officer! I've lost my little boy! Oh, what shall I do? He had on a blue suit, and he is so timid!" "Don't get excited," the man said,--"you will find him over at the east entrance," etc., etc. "You seem to have plenty to do," said Mrs. Pennybacker. "Oh, yes. They lose their children this way all day long. You let go a child's hand in a crowd like this and he is lost in a minute." Bess and Margaret each tightened her clutch of a little hand. The crowd was very dense here, for even democratic America loves to see its chief executive. Mrs. Pennybacker had pushed a little ahead of the policeman and was looking at the rounding colonnade when she heard an anxious falsetto voice behind her. "Oh, _have_ you seen an old lady about eighty-five--with dress and spectacles on? She's got away from me. What _shall_ I do!"