20 The Life Worth Living 



Our friends from the barn with their babies 

 often roam over the lawn, and their fellow- 

 ship more than pays for any annoyances 

 their presence may cause. They drink grace- 

 fully at our mermaid fountain and seem to 

 think her bronze figure was cast and set there 

 to give them water. And so it was. 



In early spring the buttercups carpet 

 every inch of earth in gorgeous yellow, while 

 the jonquils lift their flame about the foun- 

 tain's rim. 



The buttercups stay a month, and then 

 forget-me-nots, clover and daisies add their 

 white and blue. We have a garden for the 

 cultivated flowers. But I confess I've given 

 my heart to the wild flowers of the lawn. 

 They ask nothing and give everything. 



The oaks and elms I love best of all the 

 trees, especially the water oaks. When tired 

 of study, I stroll beneath their dark shadows, 

 while their satin leaves flash above in the sun 

 like so many swinging diamonds, lie down 



