THE FLOWER GARDEN. 117 



the fish that had swallowed the ring. On recovering 

 his property, he raised his eyes toward heaven, won 

 dering what terrible calamity the gods had in store 

 for him to equalize such good forture. If there is 

 no such story there ought to be, for nature is cer 

 tainly made up of compensations. If a woman is 

 rich she is rarely handsome; if. a man is handsome 

 he is not apt to be wise ; if we are extremely fortu 

 nate we may expect a reverse ; one misfortune wards 

 off another ; if we lose a leg in battle we are likely 

 to save our head ; the old motto says, &quot;Lucky in love, 

 unlucky in play ;&quot; and if it rains in spring, it is apt to 

 be dry weather in summer. It had rained all through 

 the spring as though ^he flood-gates of heaven never 

 were to be closed, but when they were finally shut 

 down they fitted so well that scarcely a drop trickled 

 through the cracks. May was a deluge ; July was a 

 drought. All authorities coincide in holding that 

 seeds must be planted before or immediately after a 

 rain, but they give no directions how to produce a 

 rain if it does not come naturally. It was in vain 

 that I waited for even a shower in vain that I scan 

 ned the sky at sunrise or sunset, watched the wind, or 

 consulted the weather-wise. Clouds ceased to be the 

 harbingers of rain ; a threatening sunset only insured 

 a cloudless morrow ; an easterly wind was positive 



