24 STORIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



for the wind, the birds, the hand of man, to scatter 

 the seeds afar, lest, falling too close about the 

 parent plant, they choke for lack of soil. 



"Back in the Moon of Falling Leaves, when 

 we were blown here to this barren spot, if we had 

 sprouted like our brothers in the warm sheltered 

 meadow, the first rain, gullying down the slope, 

 would have washed us out before we had firm 

 footing. The Voice said wait until the sun looks 

 backward toward the west at evening and shines 

 full on you from between the birches. For many 

 weeks the clouds hung low, but yesterday the sun 

 remembered us at last, and to-day you see that we 

 are here." 



" Who do you mean by the Voice ? Was 

 it the Tree Man who gave me the Magic Spec- 

 tacles?" 



" Yes, the very same, Heart of Nature." 



" What do you think of this, Waddles dear, or 

 did you know all about it before ? " said Tommy- 

 Anne. 



" No, Mistress, I never bothered the grass with 

 such questions ; we always talk upon a different 

 subject. I put my nose down close and whisper, 

 'What beast tracked through here last, and 

 which way did he run ? ' The grass always an- 



