The Flower Princess The Flower Princess; The Little Friend; The Mermaid's Child; The Ten Blowers   By: Abbie Farwell Brown (1871-1927)

By Abbie Farwell Brown

THE FLOWER PRINCESS. Illustrated. Sq. 12mo, $1.00.

THE CURIOUS BOOK OF BIRDS. Illustrated. Square 12mo, $1.10, net . Postpaid, $1.21.

A POCKETFUL OF POSIES. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.00, net . Postpaid, $1.09.

IN THE DAYS OF GIANTS. Illustrated. 12mo, $1.10, net . Postpaid, $1.21. School edition , 50 cents, net , postpaid.

THE BOOK OF SAINTS AND FRIENDLY BEASTS. Illustrated, 12mo, $1.25.

THE LONESOMEST DOLL. Illustrated. Sq. 12mo, 85 cents, net . Postpaid, 95 cents.

HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN & CO. BOSTON AND NEW YORK

THE FLOWER PRINCESS

[Illustration: LET HIM PROVE IT]

[Illustration]

THE FLOWER PRINCESS

by

ABBIE·FARWELL BROWN

Boston and New York Houghton Mifflin and Company

The Riverside Press Cambridge 1904

Copyright 1904 by Abbie Farwell Brown All Rights Reserved

Published September, 1904

Oh, give me for a little space To see with childlike eyes This curious world, our dwelling place Of wonder and surprise. . . .

The long, long road from Day to Night Winds on through constant change, Whereon one hazards with delight Adventures new and strange;

The wonders of the earth and sky! The magic of the sea! The mysteries of beast and fly, Of bird and flower and tree!

One feels the breath of holy things Unseen along the road, The whispering of angel wings, The neighboring of Good.

And Beauty must be good and true, One battles for her sake; But Wickedness is foul to view, So one cannot mistake. . . .

Ah, give me with the childlike sight The simple tongue and clear Wherewith to read the vision right Unto a childish ear.

Acknowledgments are due the publishers of The Churchman for permission to reprint "The Flower Princess" and "The Little Friend;" also to the Brown Book of Boston for permission to use "The Ten Blowers," which first appeared in that magazine.

CONTENTS

THE FLOWER PRINCESS 1

THE LITTLE FRIEND 45

THE MERMAID'S CHILD 67

THE TEN BLOWERS 103

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

LET HIM PROVE IT (page 31) Frontispiece

THE PRINCESS FLEURETTE 10

UNTIL SHE CLAPPED HER HANDS FOR JOY 18

UNTIL HELP COMES 56

YOU WILL BRING HIM BACK TO ME? 86

ONE MORE BLOW FOR OUR KING 124

THE FLOWER PRINCESS

I

ONCE upon a time there was a beautiful Princess named Fleurette, who lived in a white marble palace on the top of a high hill. The Princess Fleurette was very fond of flowers, and all around the palace, from the very gates thereof, a fair garden, full of all kinds of wonderful plants, sloped down to the foot of the hill, where it was snugly inclosed with a high marble wall. Thus the hill was like a great nosegay rising up in the midst of the land, sending out sweet odors to perfume the air for miles, bright with color in the sunshine, and musical with the chorus of birds and the hum of millions of bees.