102 In Touch with Nature. 



nous announcement of it? What if the tender 

 human swain proposed through a fog-horn, and 

 his lady replied with a steam-whistle ? But in an 

 instant the meadows were silent. Not a frog 

 whimpered. In wonderment I looked about, and 

 saw nothing amiss but the shadow of a cloud ; 

 and this, doubtless, had been the cause. Could 

 it have been associated in their minds with the 

 shadows cast by passing birds, as the herons and 

 bittern, their greatest enemies ? This is giving 

 the frogs credit for considerable wit, but not more 

 than is their due. 



Soon the great roaring recommenced, and again 

 as suddenly ceased. No shadow of a cloud dis- 

 turbed them then, but a gentle breeze, that swept 

 over the water with great speed, leaving a chill 

 behind it. It would seem as if the day's outing 

 must abruptly close. With folded arms, and back 

 resting against a sturdy oak, it was not so doleful 

 an incident after all, even on May-day, to look 

 across the meadows while it rained. The swal- 

 lows were in ecstasies ; the hawks screamed with 

 delight ; robins replied to the distant thunder ; 

 and now, as if assured that no danger threatened 



