174 BIRD PARADISE 



evening I heard a member of this family making 

 the corridors of my orchard resound with the 

 notes of the frog song. It was a cheerful efiEbrt, 

 and not entirely lacking in the element of music. 



The season moves steadily forward to the ripe- 

 ness and fulness of the fall. Notwithstanding 

 the drought, almost all the growth of field and 

 garden has matured perfectly. The ripening of 

 the year has come early and come in large meas- 

 ure. "What volumes of life are crowded into one 

 perfect vegetable of any kind. Months of growth 

 are there. A dozen different agents have given 

 all the assistance in their power. Subtle currents 

 of many kinds have poured into the being of 

 plant and fruit all their best, and the result is 

 that wondrous creation that in every stage of its 

 process is, "He spake, and it was done." In 

 the ordinary year there is the ordinary return — 

 ripeness gauged to a standard that is far below 

 the royal one. "The King in His beauty" is 

 what we all want to see, and not only see, but be 

 the very thing we see. Garden, farm, business, 

 — anything that our hands find to do has its 

 larger value in the hands perfected in the doing. 

 In the perfect season, the imperfect work may 



