44 SUDDEN SUMMER 



strewn ground. On a nearer approach the apparent 

 white gives place to a faint or decided pink. The pure 

 white stars of the Blood-root have come out, and the 

 hillside reveals them one by one, like the fading grey 

 vault of the sky in advancing evening. There is 

 another and another ! Each star has come forth from 

 an enfolding leaf of many graceful lobes and rich, 

 green, fleshy, vegetable texture. This flower may last 

 but a day, yet it is not always so short-lived. A cold 

 night will close the white star into a firm bud, and in 

 an uncertain spring a flower may open and close 

 several times before the wind scatters its fragile 

 petals. The leaves of the Dog-tooth Violet are freely 

 unfolding, and here and there a spot of golden yellow 

 reveals a flower bending over and glowing toward 

 the earth from which it has just arisen. The Scented 

 White Violet is peeping timidly from the shade of a 

 depression in the hillside. There is a human interest 

 in these offerings of spring, delayed so long and 

 now crowding forward together. They appeal for 

 protection. They cannot endure molestation, and, 

 if plucked, will immediately wither and die in an 

 appealing protest against such wanton aggression. 

 Their mission is to adorn the earth that has nourished 

 them into life. 



