WELCOME THE COMING GUEST 



Now and then, in strolling along country 

 roadsides, we catch glimpses of beautiful blue- 

 birds flying over the fields or halting on fence 

 rails and posts. But, even while halting, they 

 lift their wings again and again, as if reluctant 

 to forego for one little moment the joy and free- 

 dom of flight. They also these birds of heaven's 

 own hue tell, in happy warbles, of resurrection, 

 gladness, and the joy of living. 



And hark, from down among the sheltered 

 streams of the meadows come other voices. We 

 hear them faintly and at long intervals now ; but 

 in the evening, when all other sounds are hushed, 

 the air is filled with the high, but not inharmo- 

 nious, peeping of the earliest frogs. 



So it is now ; but stormy winds have raged and 

 heavy snows have fallen since the day when we 

 watched the ice-jewels vanishing before the pow- 

 erful February sun. And cold nights may come 

 again, and biting frosts may chill these buds of 

 promise and silence these joyous notes ; but it can 

 be only for a time, a very little time. Spring is 

 striding forward now, and winter's hold is surely 

 broken. 



The tide of northward travel has already set 

 in, but, as usual, much of the passing takes place 



