132 A BOUQUET OF MEADOW-SWEET 



and white, and each one has five round petals the 

 same shape as those of Wild Rose. Ever so 

 many yellow pieces stick out from their centers 

 and give the bunches a soft, fluffy look. The 

 green leaves on the bush grow one above the 

 other, and have little notches around their edges. 

 The stems are wine-colored. 



Philip always coughs and laughs when Tommy 

 says that Meadow-sweet and Wild Rose are re- 

 lated ; but Herr Wilhelm Fritz knows this is quite 

 true. I used to be sorry that Meadow-sweet 

 hadn't such a sweet scent as Wild Rose. But only 

 a few wild flowers have any fragrance; and 

 Tommy's father says we should be more grateful 

 when they have it, than sorry when they have not. 



After luncheon to-day Philip started out to get 

 a bouquet of Meadow-sweet for his mother. He 

 went to Grandmother's field, because the largest 

 one of all these bushes grows there by the wall. 

 It is so tall and strong that a pair of robins built 

 their nest in it this year, instead of in the Elder- 

 berry bushes on the other side. And robins' 

 nests are heavier than those of most birds, because 

 they make them with mud as well as straw and 

 tiny twigs. Both Tommy and Philip call this 

 bush " the Veteran." 



Philip picked his bouquet from an old part of 

 the bush where the branches were close together. 

 If he had broken off its young shoots it would 

 have made " the Veteran " look wounded. 



