“Indeed, I don’t know,” was the thoughtless reply of Eveline, who was noticing the effect of a costly diamond breast-pin with which her brother had, a day or two before, presented her. “Mr. Carlton has a strange way of talking, sometimes. I suppose he would--there! isn’t that brilliant, Eunie? If brother John could only see the effect! I’m a thousand times obliged to him. Isn’t it splendid, Eunie?” “It is, indeed, Evie. But what were you going to say about Mr. Carlton?” “Dear knows! I forget now. John must have given at least five hundred dollars for this pin, don’t you think he did?” “I am sure I don’t know. I never think about how much a thing costs.” “Jane Loming’s is admired by every body; but the diamonds in this are twice the size of those in hers, and it contains two to one. Just look how purely the light is sent back from the very bosom of each lucid gem. Could any thing be more brilliant! How I love gold and diamonds! They are nature’s highest and loveliest achievements.” “In the mineral kingdom,” said Eunice, in her gentle way. “But gold and diamonds I love not half so well as I do flowers, nor are they half so beautiful. There is your glittering diamond. There is a flower not only far more beautiful, but with a spirit of perfume in its heart. And when I look into your eyes, sister, how dim and cold appear the inanimate gems that sparkle on your bosom. There are lovelier things in nature, Evie, than gold and diamonds.” “You are a strange girl, Eunie,” returned Eveline, playfully. “I don’t know what to make of you, sometimes.” “I don’t know what there is strange about me, sister,” said Eunice. “Have I not said the truth? Is not a flower a lovelier and more excellent thing than a brilliant stone, which, because it is the purest and rarest substance in the mineral kingdom, is prized the highest, but is still only a stone?” “Would you give a diamond for a flower, Eunie? Tell me that, dear.” “No, because diamonds have a certain value as property, and are rarer than flowers. Flowers spring up every where. With a few seeds and a little earth, or with the fiftieth part of the price of a moderate-sized diamond, I can have them at my will. But, give me a little bouquet of sweet flowers, and I will enjoy it more, and love it better, than all the jewels in my casket.” “I verily believe you would, Eunie. It’s like you. And sometimes I half wish that I, too, could find delight in these simple things; that I could love a flower as you do. Flowers are beautiful, and please me at first sight; but I soon grow weary of them, while you will cherish even a half-opened bud, and love it while a leaf retains its beauty and perfume. But, to change the subject, how are you going to dress at Mrs. Glover’s, next week?” “I havn’t thought about that, yet. What do _you_ mean to wear?” “This diamond breast-pin, of course.” “No doubt of that,” said Eunice, smiling. “And you will go, as likely as not, without an ornament, except a flower in your hair.”