CHAPTER VII 



ANSWERS TO FRANCIS'S LETTER 



The first letter that Grandmother received 

 from Francis was nearly all about flowers, and he 

 asked so many questions that she thought she 

 could not answer them all at one writing. Tommy 

 and I decided to help her a little. 



Francis had spent almost every minute since 

 his return to New England in the woods. He 

 had found Butterflies' Banners, as he still called 

 Dutchman's Breeches, and was sorry that the time 

 had come for them to fade. He wrote : " I won- 

 der if you all love Spring Beauty. It fairly covers 

 the ground here, and its delicate white blossom 

 is very like the Wind-flower, only running through 

 it are fine pink lines. Its leaves look very much 

 like grass, that is, they would if they stood up 

 straighter, and it is by them and the pink veins 

 in the flower that any one can tell it from 

 Wind-flower, or Rue-anemone. In our woods it 

 spreads out like mats over the ground. But I 

 have noticed that it is quite a fair-weather lover, 

 for when it is cloudy, or rain is falling, the pretty 

 blossoms close tightly. I think this is because too 

 much wet is not good for its health. 



" Please write me," he went on, " if it grows 

 41 



