Saint Guido 



rowing ships men's ships and came right up into 

 the land ever so far, all along the river up to the 

 place where the stream in the ditch runs in; just 

 where your papa took you in the punt, and you got 

 the waterlilies, the white ones." 



" And wetted my sleeve right up my arm oh, I 

 know ! I can row you, old Wheat ; I can row as well 

 as my papa can." 



" But since the rowing ships came, the ploughs 

 have turned up this ground a thousand times," said 

 the Wheat; " and each time the furrows smelt 

 sweeter, and this year they smelt sweetest of all. 

 The horses have such glossy coats, and such fine 

 manes, and they are so strong and beautiful. They 

 drew the ploughs along and made the ground give up 

 its sweetness and savour, and while they were doing 

 it, the spiders in the copse spun their silk along from 

 the ashpoles, and the mist in the morning weighed 

 down their threads. It was so delicious to come out 

 of the clods as we pushed our green leaves up and 

 felt the rain, and the wind, and the warm sun. Then 

 a little bird came in the copse and called, ' Sip sip, 

 sip, sip, sip/ such a sweet low song, and the larks ran 

 along the ground in between us, and there were blue- 

 bells in the copse, and anemones; till by-and-by the 

 sun made us yellow, and the blue flowers that you 

 have in your hand came out. I cannot tell you how 

 many there have been of these flowers since the oak 

 was struck by the lightning, in all the thousand years 

 there must have been altogether I cannot tell you 

 how many." 



" Why didn't I pick them all? " said Guido. 



" Do you know," said the Wheat, " we have 

 thought so much more, and felt so much more, since 

 your people took us, and ploughed for us, and sowed 



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