HOW THE GRASS GREW 23 



could a tiny seed such as you come from, live 

 through this great fight? I helped my father 

 sow some of you last fall, down in the new 

 meadow, and you were like specks of dust." 



" Yes ; we are only dust-motes borne by the 

 breeze. We were of the seed you scattered, and 

 the wind swept us here under this Oak.'* 



" But," persisted she, " why didn't you grow 

 then like the other seeds ? why did you wait so 

 long?" 



"Because, little House Child, the first lesson 

 we bits of plant life have to learn is when and 

 how to wait. 



' 4 We cannot move from place to place and 

 shift our homes like the animals, according to 

 the seasons and the weather ; so from first to 

 last, waiting is our portion. 



" The little seed, lying on the ground, waits for 

 the rain and sun to touch it before it may swell 

 and grow ; the plant waits for the roots to suck 

 nourishment from the earth and air before it can 

 form the flower ; the flower, spreading glowing 

 colours to the sun, or wafting perfume through 

 the night, waits for the Bee, the Butterfly, the 

 Hummingbird, the Moth, to bring it food to fill 

 the little seed germs that it holds within its 

 heart. And, last of all, the bursting pod waits 



