36 STORIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



" Certainly, our family follows its own cus- 

 toms. Every respectable plant family has its 

 own habits, shape, and colours. In some the 

 leaves are broad, in some narrow ; in some the 

 veins run up and down, and in others across, 

 like spider webbing (you will learn our laws 

 in the Flower Market). In one thing we are all 

 alike ; We all have roots, and we come from 

 the spark of life that our mothers pack into the 

 seed lunch baskets." 



" Oh, oh ! I see," said Tommy-Anne ; " the food 

 that Rattle finds in the nuts and cones was packed 

 away to feed the plant life while it grew. 



44 But if I were you, little Spruce, I would 

 rather stay out in the wood and grow tall, so 

 that I could see over the hills to salt water, 

 than be cut down for a Christmas tree when I 

 was quite young." 



"Tommy-Anne, have you never seen a Christ- 

 mas tree, that you should talk so? The Snow 

 Owl has seen one ! He told my grandmother 

 about it, and our family have never since com- 

 plained when House People come and cut our 

 brethren down after the first snow. He saw it 

 in the great house in the village, the one where 

 people go on Sundays, wearing their best clothes. 

 The house that points up to the sky with one 



