THE SIGNAL 23 



some tiny green rolls were piercing the ground, 

 close to the hood, which might be leaves later on. 



" I suppose you must be a plant, thougli I'm 

 sure I've never seen you before," said Anne, 

 apologetically ; " but I've never been down here 

 quite so early." Then after stopping to think a 

 moment, she brightened up and asked: "Have you 

 anything to do with those tufts of big green leaves 

 that I've often found here in May, and later they 

 have bunches of hard berries ? Those plants do 

 really look something like cabbages." 



"Jam the flower; those green tufts are the 

 leaves, and the berries are the seeds. A very 

 handsome flower I am, too, don't you think, even 

 if you do not appreciate my perfume ? " 



" You are so far down in the ground that 

 that I can't see you so very well," stammered 

 Anne, wishing to be truthful, and at the same 

 time polite. 



" May I pick one of your family ? I see that 

 there are a great many of them about besides the 

 one that I hurt." 



" No, you may not ; we are not to be handled 

 and made into bouquets like common flowers ; we 

 lose our attraction when we leave home. We 

 belong to a very exclusive and aristocratic family; 

 it counts among its members the hothouse Calla 



