AND HIS PLANT SCHOOL 153 



Then he heard the teacher say something about the 

 other pupils minding the frost, and that it. kept them from 

 bearing fruit in many places. He began then and there 

 to feel his importance, for he knew all about how to resist 



The ennobling of the Beach plum. 



the cold. He had had experience with the cold, and he 

 began to realize how he was going to be of use by teach- 

 ing them new ways, while he was also receiving instruction 

 from the master. 



A month later Little Beach was a perfect snowball of 

 bloom, when the Japanese plums and others had lost nearly 

 all their beautiful white petals. 



Then came the wise one to admire Little Beach's flowers, 

 and also to impart to him the knowledge of his real worth, 

 and to tell him what was expected of him in the future. 



