LXIII. — Spring and the Livestock 



"^HE winter certainly appears to be over, and 

 neither man nor beast is sorry. We have 

 all been penned in altogether too long, 

 and it feels good to be out in the open 

 again. I notice that it affects the farm creatures in 

 different ways. The cattle seemed unusually lazy, 

 and during the heat of the day most of them lay 

 down where they could let the sunshine soak into 

 their skins. The colts started on a wild scamper 

 around the fields and threw up mud in a way that 

 made it necessary to close them up in the barnyard 

 again, as they were cutting up the pasture. As 

 they abused their freedom they had to be deprived 

 of it. The sheep took things quietly, as might be 

 expected, and I noticed that after a little run fat 

 little Mary Belle stood panting with her mouth open. 

 She and Clarissa and Strafe made a start at playing 

 king of the castle on an ant-hill, but their mothers 

 kept so close to them that they spoiled the fun. 

 Beatrice seemed to like the heat about as well as any- 



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