CHAPTER IV 



THE AMARYLLIS AND THE POPPY 



A MONG the thousands of letters which 

 ■^^^- Mr. Burbank receives from all quarters 

 of the globe are very many having unusual 

 interest because of the prominence of the 

 writers and because of their interest in the 

 remarkable work of which they make inquiry, 

 but he has seldom received one of such pecu- 

 liar interest as that which came from a pro- 

 fessor of a far eastern college. It told of the 

 loss of a little son. In the depths of his great 

 bereavement the father had sought for some 

 memorial which should be a visible token of 

 the rare life that had gone. So he chose one 

 of the exquisitely beautiful amaryllis plants 

 which Mr. Burbank had created, to plant upon 

 the child's grave. The letter told of the splen- 

 did blossoms that came and of the deep sat- 

 isfaction that such a monument had been 

 chosen. The flower was of rare color and 

 great size; it would be a lasting memorial. 



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