26 STORIES OF EARTH AND SKY 



" Some very early flowers have beautiful leaves 

 and a lovely perfume, too. The Trailing Arbutus 

 up on Wild Cat Mountain, for instance, and the 

 dear little blue Hepaticas in my woods above the 

 orchard." 



" Humph, House Child, it does not need Magic 

 Spectacles to see that those are last year's 

 leaves that you are speaking of; the new leaves 

 follow the bloom with both those flowers. The 

 great trees like Maples, Elms, Birches, and Wil- 

 lows all flower before their leaves come out." 



" I don't think I've noticed any real flowers on 

 those trees only sort of queer looking little 

 tassels and things." 



"No matter how a thing looks, House Child," 

 said the Chi-kaug Flower, fiercely, " everything is 

 really a flower that has a seed-lunch basket and 

 precious dust to fill it with. That is the impor- 

 tant part. Heart of Nature gave flowers pretty 

 coloured petals and perfume, to remind the Bees 

 and Butterflies to do their work in the Flower 

 Market. I wish you would go away ; I'm sure 

 I hear a Bee buzzing, though those horrid little 

 frogs make such a noise that I'm nearly deaf, and 

 if you are here the Bee will surely overlook me." 



Anne skipped over the tussocks almost as 

 quickly as a frog might, and then called Waddles, 



