44 J6otan^ 



cloudy veil, instead of those sharp outlines which 

 have stood so clearly against the winter sky. Under 

 shelter of the fences and along the edges of the 

 streams, even where ice needles and little heaps of 

 snow still linger, we see green leaves of chickweed 

 and shepherd's purse, blades of grass, fresh plants of 

 cress. 



About the lawns, upon the sod that has grown sere 

 and brown with cold, fresh, bright tips and blades 

 of grass come pushing up. Vie look at the shrubs 

 and find the buds upon the stems enlarged, the 

 glossy scales loosening ; while the lilac, bolder 

 than the rest, already presents an edge of green. 



The world is waking up; the hosts of nature's 

 flower-children will soon be marching over the land, 

 while blackbird, cuckoo, oriole, thrush, robin, and 

 bluebird sound their welcome. The coat of the 

 bluejay is taking a new vividness ; great V-shaped 

 bands of wild-geese go honking northward; the 

 squirrel comes from his hole ; the woodpeckers whirl 

 around the tree boles, and rap, tap, and chuckle with 

 increasing gayety. 



Where will the earth find the garments of praise, 

 the garlands of joy, with which she will be made 

 glorious by Maytime ? They await her, packed in 

 seeds of all shapes and sizes. 



Many of us have seen a magician entertaining an 



