96 STORIES OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



the Spider chattered about it to his wife, and the 

 Wind heard him in going by, and told it to a bit of 

 dandelion down he was carrying; I caught the down 

 and took it home to line my nest, and it told me ! " 



"Do you call that coining direct?" laughed 

 Tommy-Anne. " I should think that a very 

 'round Robin Hood's barn' sort of way." 



" Oh no ; it is quite direct for us. When Heart 

 of Nature's messengers fetch and carry, even if 

 the message passes through a hundred beaks and 

 tongues, it never grows either larger or smaller 

 than when it started ; his servants add nothing, 

 take nothing ; simply repeat. 



" Thanks, very nice breakfast, delicious roses ; 

 now that I have done, what can I do for you ? " 

 said Ruby-throat. 



"Take me to the Flower Market first, if you 

 please, and then tell me all the whys," she said, 

 drawing her wide hat forward so that it shaded 

 her eyes, and preparing to start. 



" We are in.the Flower Market now." 



" In the flower garden, yes ; but it is the market 

 that I wish to see. The place where the flowers 

 sell honey and buy the life-dust to fill the lunch 

 baskets for the little seeds," she explained slowly, 

 and very politely, thinking that Ruby-throat had 

 misunderstood. 



