APRIL DAYS 47 



fill, than the countryside affords when clothed with 

 the soft mists of morning, noisy with bird-music, 

 or fading into the stillness of night. And in the 

 holy temples of the hills, in the vocal aisles of the 

 woods, is there not also a suggestion of reverence 

 for the Originator of it all, though this take but 

 the form of prostration before the sun ? The boy 

 whose heart is already dead in knowledge can 

 hardly be expected to assent to this ; but some 

 glorious maid, whom beauty has moulded and 

 decked for the triumph of truth and kindliness, 

 whose eye is not watchful for defect, and whose 

 waist is not strangled for fashion, may feel that it 

 is a fact. What matter whether she come from 

 the manor-house or from the cottage? Let her 

 conquer with vigorous step the steep slope, and 

 rest victorious at the summit, to rejoice in the 

 glory of the spring flowers and the music of the 

 birds, from that of the robin coming near to watch 

 her to that of the soulful lark. 



Nature tells strange tales of life and death in 

 animal, and in man, the lord of animals. She 

 whispers as well echoes of the past, and hints of 

 the future. We may read long legends from frag- 



