82 OLD ADAM'S GAIETY 



one. One day on a Rock Pink's stem, and 

 close to the flower, Tommy counted over forty 

 little mites which were quite dead. Only two 

 of them were much larger than the head of a 

 pin. I have noticed, too, that when I hold them 

 in my hand. Rock Pinks do not look nearly so 

 pretty as when we see them growing by the gray 

 rock. 



It is not only about Old Adam that these flowers 

 are blooming. Quantities of them are out in 

 other parts of the woods, and on some high banks 

 along the roadsides. 



By Old Adam Columbine is still swaying, sway- 

 ing its red and yellow bells as a jester nods his 

 cap, and beautiful ferns, and plants with leaves 

 like ferns, are growing there. Of course Dog- 

 wood is still hanging down over the spot where I 

 saw the strange girl; and even when the woods 

 are dark the sun peeps in and sits there like a 

 crown. 



One of the flowers, with leaves like ferns, is 

 called Early Meadow Rue. I have often passed 

 it on my way to the rock, and yet it was only yes- 

 terday that I asked Tommy its name. 



" We'd miss It about Old Adam," he said, " if 

 anything should happen to drive It away. Its 

 flowers don't look very pretty; but It's just such 

 plain little things as they which sometimes are 

 most curious. They are only a greenish color, 

 and you see how they grow in long, loose bunches 



