226 FLOWERS OF THE SUN 



sapphire, amethyst, ruby and gold that jeweled the 

 open stretch, where, for a mile, the eye roamed 

 uninterrupted over dry, moist or brackish meadows, 

 unbounded save by an occasional stone or stake 

 bearing some cabalistic sign, the dubious landmarks 

 of many claimants. The gems of gold were the 

 countless clusters of Sundrops, the daytime brother 

 of the paler Evening Primrose, lowly tufts of Star 

 Grass and sturdy Yellow Thistles; the sap- 

 phires, the lily -shaped flowers of the stout 

 Blue -Eyed Grass; and the sparkling 

 amethyst, its taller cousin, the slender 

 Iris or Blue Flag, which blends, in the 

 exquisitely penciled flower, the gold 

 and blue of its field mates with a 

 purple tint of its own, while the 

 freshly opened heads of escaped 

 Clover and the native Milkwort car- 

 ried the ruby tint right into the shining 

 emerald sedge. 



"Oh, for a musician to write a sunlight 

 sonata!" murmured Flower Hat, half to 

 herself. " Some one gay and bubbling, like 

 Papa Haydn, but who would leave out the 

 piping of shepherds and give instead the vital breath 

 of the earth a tone poet both serious and emo- 



