Surprises of the Prairie 



The sal via also belongs to the kindred of the sage. It 

 grows from two to four feet high. Its scent is decidedly 

 sagey. The blossoms are a beautiful blue. Their shape is 

 similar to those of the garden sage. The bluish effect of their 

 bloom is better at a distance than near at hand. It is un- 

 accountably strange that the lower lip of this thing of beauty 

 should have the shape of the swine's chin. But it has caught 

 the color of the sky, and that saves it. When you know 

 nature, you will expect to see strange sights. Who would 

 think that the blossom of "the devil's hook" would look so 

 much like the catalpa bloom. But the resemblance is strik- 

 ingly close. No one thing has all the beauty. It is dis- 

 tributed far and wide. 



The salvia loves the roadside. When the wind was on 

 the prairie I have seen the bumblebee swing and swing as 

 he feasted on the honey in this flower. He falls in with the 

 wind, and has his own way. He wastes neither strength 

 nor time in combating the weather. He is not looking for 

 trouble, his quest is for honey. When he dips his honey-spoon 

 in that blue chalice of sweetness he rises and falls with the 

 flower in the wind. He has a good time, but he does it by 

 adapting himself to things and not by adapting tHines to 

 himself. 



"Seeing only what is fair, 



Sipping only what is sweet, 

 Thou dost mock at fate and care, 

 Leave the chaff, and take the wheat.' 



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