ON VARIATION 
or jump, the pod flops up and down, and its prickly 
points, adding to the pain of the ever-pinching 
hooks, are sure to keep the animal in motion. As 
the frightened beast makes haste to get away from 
an enemy which it cannot see, the seeds within the 
pod begin to loosen and fall out on the ground. 
When the last seed has left its shelter, the trap 
begins to fall apart—its object accomplished—its 
seeds scattered throughout a mile or more of new 
environment. 
The sailor is awed by the mountains, and the 
mountaineer is awed by the sea. 
* * * * * 
And we, too, are more apt to wonder at the 
jumping beans of Mexico and at the devil’s claw of 
the equator than at the cherry tree in our own 
back yard—which outdoes both of these by form- 
ing a double partnership. 
Just as the geranium bids for the bees, so the 
cherry blossom, with its delicate pink and its store 
of honey advertises for butterflies and bees to 
bring the pollen from a neighboring tree. 
And this partnership concluded, the accounts 
balanced and the books closed, it then seeks new 
partners in the birds. 
That delicious meat around the seed, that shiny 
skin of red, and that odor of the cherry as it ripens 
—these are a part of the advertisement to the 
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