A SYLVAN EASTER 71 



''O Polly, silly, silly Polly,'' sighed Portia, 

 "dreaming of bumblebees." 



''I'm not silly," declared Polly, ''and if you 

 had heard what the oak was preaching, you'd 

 be as wise as I am now. As for the bee — oh, 

 there she goes I" 



Then Polly smiled to herself as she settled 

 down under the sunrise oak, clasping in her 

 chubby hand the lily which they had brought 

 her, while Portia told the real meaning of 

 Easter. 



"Easter is our awakening into a new and 

 higher life. We may lay aside old garments 

 of the mind, as we do of the body, and clothe 

 ourselves with a new spirit ; for the true Easter 

 adornment is within, of which the outer orna- 

 ment is but a symbol. So on this Easter Day 

 let us blossom into a better, brighter life and 

 show the Divinity within, even as the trees are 

 showing that hidden within them lies the 

 power to burst hard buds and proclaim with 

 flower and leaf that life of which winter could 

 not rob them, which is one Life, one Thought 



