16 THREE KINGDOMS. 



Once a year, in the spring-time, when the sun has 

 lifted the ice-curtain from the lakes, so that the fishes 

 can look out, and the flowers can look in, the children 

 from far and near come together for a meeting and a 

 holiday. They are the boys and girls for a tramp! Their 

 sturdy legs and long staves, their strong bodies and short 

 dresses, their gay stockings and stout shoes prove that 

 beyond a question. 



The long golden hair of the girls, tightly braided and 

 firing knotted with gay ribbons, flashes brightly as 

 they go clambering over rocks, leaping across rivulets, 

 scrambling along glaciers, and climbing steep cliffs. 



When the village schoolmaster, who usually leads 

 these excursions, blows his horn, back come the children, 

 like laughing echoes, with baskets, pockets, boxes, and 

 bags full of the treasures of the wood. 



Then they eat their dinner us we wculd take ;i piciiic ; 

 and after that, spread out their trophies, and decide who 

 has found the most, and who the rarest. They g - et the 

 master to name them, if he can, and laugh in mischiev- 

 ous triumph when he fails. 



With the lengthening shadows, the children return to 

 their homes, and arrange their mosses, ferns and flowers, 

 their pebbles and beetles and butterflies, in cabinets, and 

 declare, in their quaint accents, that they have had a 

 glorious time. And have they not? The fresh, crisp air, 

 the holiday, the sunshine, the picnic, the gathered speci- 

 mens, and a teacher to tell them Latin names! No won- 

 der they enjoy it. Would not you? 



But, on reflection, we have all those things in this 

 country, could we once bring them together in the right 

 proportions. We have holidays enough there are Satur- 

 days. Schoolmasters are as plentiful as schools. This 

 is the same sun that shines on Switzerland, and it can 



