"Were those cherries like ours?" asked Clara.
"They were larger and finer than ours generally are, I think," was the
reply, "being the great northern cherry, or bird-cherry, of Europe,
which grows in Germany to great perfection. And the little German girl's
plate of cherries, which she so generously urged upon a stranger when
food of any kind was so scarce, is a beautiful illustration of the first
verse of the eleventh chapter of Proverbs: 'Cast thy bread upon the
waters; for thou shalt find it after many days.'"
CHAPTER XII.
_THE MULBERRY FAMILY_.
"There is a fruit tree," said Miss Harson, "belonging to an entirely
different family, which we have not considered yet; and, although it is
not a common tree with us, one specimen of it is to be found in Mrs.
Bush's garden, where you have all enjoyed the fruit very much. What
is it?"
"Mulberry," said Clara, promptly, while Malcolm was wondering what it
could be.
"Oh yes," said Edith, very innocently; "I like to go and see Mrs. Bush
when there are mulberries."
Mrs. Bush was not a cheerful person to visit, as she was quite old and
rather hard of hearing, and she lived alone in the gloomy old house with
the Lombardy poplars in front, where everything looked dark and shut up.
A queer woman in a sunbonnet, nearly as old as Mrs. Bush, lived close
by, and "kept an eye on her," as she said.
Mrs. Bush's great enjoyment was to have visitors of all ages, to whom
she talked a great deal, and cried as she talked, about a daughter who
had died a few years ago.
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