6 I GO TO THE COUNTRY 



Grandmother gave me my fur collar and muff at 

 Christmas. For all along their stems, and on the 

 green leaves under the flowers, there is surely a 

 soft and silky fur. I was so curious to know if 

 it made them feel warm that I slipped my finger 

 all around their stems, thinking perhaps I might 

 find out for myself if they were warmer than the 

 dead leaves. 



Tommy says it is all a made-up story that flow- 

 ers ever speak, but sometimes I have my own 

 thoughts about them, and like to play I hear the 

 Hepatica saying: 



" Once there was a little girl who was grieved 

 when she saw me; grieved because I wasn't a 

 Violet. She had lived all her life in the city, 

 and thought that the Violet was the first spring 

 flower. She didn't know that the Violet could 

 never come out as early as I; for its stems are 

 covered with no warm fuzz, and its leaves have 

 not stayed green, and. snuggled about it, and kept 

 it warm all winter. When the little girl found all 

 this out she called me very brave, and loved me 

 for my own sake. She might have stayed with 

 me a long time in the wood, only she wore a little 

 ticking thing on her dress, and whenever she 

 looked at that she said it was time for something." 



Just then I looked at my watch. It was surely 

 time to go back to Grandmother, so I up and ran 

 home, making a great noise in the dried leaves. 



In the evening Grandmother told us that Mr. 



