A LIST OF THE ELSIE BOOKS AND OTHER POPULAR BOOKS BY MARTHA FINLEY ELSIE DINSMORE. ELSIE'S HOLIDAYS AT ROSELANDS. ELSIE'S GIRLHOOD. ELSIE'S WOMANHOOD. ELSIE'S MOTHERHOOD. ELSIE'S CHILDREN. ELSIE'S WIDOWHOOD. GRANDMOTHER ELSIE. ELSIE'S NEW RELATIONS. ELSIE AT NANTUCKET. THE TWO ELSIES. ELSIE'S KITH AND KIN. ELSIE'S FRIENDS AT WOODBURN. CHRISTMAS WITH GRANDMA ELSIE. ELSIE AND THE RAYMONDS. ELSIE YACHTING WITH THE RAYMONDS. ELSIE'S VACATION. ELSIE AT VIAMEDE. ELSIE AT ION. ELSIE AT THE WORLD'S FAIR. ELSIE'S JOURNEY ON INLAND WATERS. ELSIE AT HOME. ELSIE ON THE HUDSON. ELSIE IN THE SOUTH. ELSIE'S YOUNG FOLKS. MILDRED KEITH. MILDRED AT ROSELANDS. MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE. MILDRED AND ELSIE. MILDRED AT HOME. MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS. MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER. CASELLA. SIGNING THE CONTRACT AND WHAT IT COST. THE TRAGEDY OF WILD RIVER VALLEY. OUR FRED. AN OLD-FASHIONED BOY. WANTED, A PEDIGREE. THE THORN IN THE NEST. [Illustration] MILDRED AND ELSIE. BY MARTHA FINLEY, (Martha Farquharson,) AUTHOR OF THE "ELSIE BOOKS," "MILDRED KEITH," "MILDRED AT ROSELANDS," "SIGNING THE CONTRACT," ETC., ETC. "_Through suffering and sorrow thou hast pass'd, To show us what a woman true may be._"-- J. R. Lowell. "_A lovely being scarcely form'd or moulded, A rose with all its sweetest leaves yet folded._"-- Byron. NEW YORK: DODD, MEAD & COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. Copyright, 1881, by Dodd, Mead & Company. MILDRED AND ELSIE. CHAPTER I. "'Tis beautiful when first the dewy light Breaks on the earth! while yet the scented air Is breathing the cool freshness of the night, And the bright clouds a tint of crimson bear." Elizabeth M. Chandler. "A long, long kiss, a kiss of youth and love." Byron. Morning was breaking over the landscape; a cool, refreshing breeze, laden with woodland sweets and wild birds' songs, softly kissed Mildred's cheek and awoke her. She started up with a low exclamation of delight, sprang to the open window, and kneeling there with her elbow on the sill and her cheek in her hand, feasted her eyes upon the beauty of the scene--a grand panorama of wooded hills, falling waters, wild glens and forests and craggy mountains, above whose lofty summits the east was glowing with crimson and gold. Another moment and the sun burst through the golden gate and began anew his daily round, "rejoicing as a strong man to run a race."