MY SUMMER IN A GARDEN. 109 



All my life long, no one has been able 

 to answer me that question. Why 

 after a heavy shower, and in the midst 

 of it, do such multitudes, of toads, espe 

 cially little ones, hop about on the gravel- 

 walks? For many years, I believed that 

 they rained down; and I suppose many 

 people think so still. They are so small, 

 and they come in such numbers only in 

 the shower, that the supposition is not 

 a violent one. &quot; Thick as toads after a 

 shower,&quot; is one of our best proverbs. 

 I asked an explanation of this of a 

 thoughtful woman, indeed, a leader in 

 the great movement to have all the 

 toads hop in any direction, without any 

 distinction of sex or religion. Her 

 reply was, that the toads come out 

 during the shower to get water. This, 

 however, is not the fact. I have dis 

 covered that they come out not to get 

 water.- I deluged a dry flower-bed, the 



