ESCAPED FROM GARDENS 9 1 



aboriginal people, of whose coming and passing we 

 do not know. The plant belongs in Asia. Did 

 a lost tribe bring it journeying eastward at a time 

 when, through Alaska, the east and western conti- 

 nents were one? Who can say, except that by a 

 flower there lives a link, binding the now to things 

 beyond the sight. So through a wayside plant race 

 history comes to Lonetown." 



Time o' Year came down the road leading home 

 his cow from her grazing -ground by the upper pond. 



"I think if I were not here he would tell you a 

 bit of news," said Flower Hat. "I 'm sure that he 

 has something on his mind." 



"Makin' a long day of it, considerin' ye 've 

 spent it all along the roadsides," he said, pausing 

 to let the cow snatch up a tempting bit of clover. 



"Yes; we 've been thinking of people and old 

 gardens, instead of looking for really wild flowers. 

 It is hard to understand why in all these forgotten 

 places the flowers are the last things to leave ex- 

 cept the very stones. I wish that I could read 

 the meaning of it all between the lines." 



"Meaning?" queried Time o' Year, looking down 

 the river, his rare smile spreading over his bronzed 

 face as he paused a moment to listen to the rolling 

 warble of a rose -breast. "There 's lots of meanings 





