114 LITTLE TRUDY'S BLUE FLOWERS 



Perhaps I have not said that the name of 

 Grandmother's friend is Professor Bonn. His 

 ancestors lived in Germany, in a university town 

 that has the same name. It Is not only because 

 he Is a great botanist that so many people know 

 him; I think it must also be because he looks like 

 the pictures of the poet Bryant, the one who wrote 

 beautiful verses about the Yellow Violet. When 

 the professor talks about flowers it is just as 

 though he were telling a story. He saw the Blue 

 Flag on the table before he had his tea, and then 

 he said, for we never have to ask him to " go on " : 



" So you know Master Bee's royal road, and 

 the toll he pays for passing over it? He's on 

 his way to court. You remember his dress is 

 black and yellow? It's not cut like a jester's 

 though, with little points and tinkling bells. Mas- 

 ter Bee Is a politician. He doesn't care to make 

 people laugh as much as he does to get his own 

 way, even if it costs him a trifle. He pays the 

 price, you see, and so he treads the royal road 

 very boldly. 



" It's just here," Professor Bonn said, and he 

 pointed with his gold pencil along the deep purple 

 line right through the flower's center. Master 

 Bee's eye is caught by this gray color, even more 

 quickly perhaps than yours or mine. He never 

 wanders from side to side of this road, but treads it 

 to the very end. It's there he finds what he wants. 

 The flower's nectar is there. He sticks his head 



