CHAPTER V 



JUNE JOYS 



r I ^HE promise of May, written in beauty, pro- 

 -* claimed in melody, and breathed in sweet- 

 ness, is partly fulfilled in June, when the great 

 work of the year already approaches complete- 

 ness. The voices lately raised in tuneful decla- 

 mation are hushed in domestic cares ; the gaudy 

 petals are falling ; and on every side are indica- 

 tions of the development of a new generation of 

 animal and vegetable life. On every side June 

 reveals the devotion and skill of the parent. The 

 wayside hedges form long streets of little homes, 

 tenanted with groups of hopeful and hungry 

 young things, which older ones are tending, 

 tenderly, gently, in fulfilment of instinctive re- 

 quirements. The passionate songs of May seemed 



