CHAPTER II. 



H¥j events just told took place in the early 

 spring, just at the time when the spring 

 work was commencing on the farm. The 

 trees were beginning to put forth their 

 leaves, and the meadows and fields were green with the 

 growing grass. The violets along the fence rows were 

 turning up their little faces to the warm sun, and every 

 "bird familiar to the climate had made its appearance. 

 Their joyous songs rang through the woods as they 

 flitted hither and thither, building their nests, or tiu*n- 

 ing over the leaves looking for bugs and worms. 

 There was no ill-temper displayed by these dwellers of 

 the forest as they went about their work, seeking a 

 living, or building their nests for the summer. Why 

 should not the human family go about their work just 

 as joyously as the birds of the forest? 



" Whistle and hoe, sing as you go, 

 Shorten the row by the songs you know.'* 



No such an idea as this had ever entered John 

 Shane's head, for with him everything was bustle and 

 hurry. 



The day broke bright and clear on the morning after 

 Pobbin's misfortune, and the Shane household was up 



