18 LITTLE TRUDY 



see beauty in many things tiiat other people 

 thought ugly. I know besides that Grandmother 

 thinks Tommy will be a naturalist. 



" The reason I care so much for Early Saxi- 

 frage," Tommy said, " isn't for its looks, but be- 

 cause it's such a useful little plant, and about as 

 brave as Hepatica. It only asks for the least little 

 bit of soil to grow in, and often none at all, as 

 it comes up in rock crevices. There it pushes its 

 tiny roots around until it causes strong rocks to 

 crumble. As they fall away they make more soil. 

 I've heard, too, that all the relatives of the Early 

 Saxifrage make themselves useful to the earth in 

 this same way." 



I thought it very fine indeed of the Saxifrage 

 to work so hard because, like Francis, I believed 

 flowers were only meant to be pretty, and grew for 

 us to pick. I never had heard before of their help- 

 ing to make soil. But I'm sure Tommy is right, 

 and that this is perhaps one of Mother Nature's 

 secrets which he has found out. 



Another of these secrets I found out myself, 

 and I think it disappointed me a little. It was 

 that Dog's-tooth Violet isn't a Violet at all, but 

 a small yellow bell, something like a baby lily. 

 Tommy had been telling me to watch for it down 

 by the stream, and had showed me its soft, green 

 leaves covered with purple spots as they stood up 

 straight about some old trees. It is there that the 

 greatest number of them are found blooming, and 



