Virgin Soil 1J 



possible circumstances could have been nice neigh- 

 bors, a big white thing that dirt could not make 

 dirty, appealed to him on account of its utter 

 helplessness, and a beetle colored like the rain- 

 bow, from which it must have fallen. 



The king of the purple grackles had clearly sent 

 out into the high-ways and hedges, and bidden 

 all his kith and kin and subjects of every kind, to 

 a great supper that was waiting, and was little 

 short of royal in its abundance. They were all 

 there, and simply took possession of the earth 

 and the fullness thereof, dignified, and almost 

 stately, but not too much so to make the most of 

 their opportunities. It is in the nature of feasts 

 to make outside folks especially conscious of hun- 

 ger, and so the robin and the blue-jay came for 

 their share ; and after them, slipping from cover 

 into the furrow, and gone like a sunbeam, was a 

 shy brown bird that played the part of Ruth 

 among the corn. 



It was a thoroughly tired urchin that dragged 

 leaden feet upstairs to bed that night, and found 

 the dream-land ship with sails unfurled awaiting 

 him. It "geed" and "hawed" a time or two and 

 he never knew when it passed the harbor bar and 

 glided away into the great ocean of forgetful- 

 ness. 



The dawn wind had scarcely commenced to toy 

 with the freshness of the June morning, a fresh- 



