SPRING. 



35 



against the lurid background. No, we cannot stop to see them, for the 

 rain-drops begin to patter thick and fast. Away we scamper to the shel- 

 ter of the overhanging rocks. The lowering sky rolls above us through 



the branches. The glassy sur- 

 face of the brook 

 takes on a leaden 

 hue as the rain- 

 cloud drags its misty 



veil across the 

 "Hi distant mead- 

 ows. The brown leaves 

 jump and spatter at my 

 feet, and the blue liverwort ''-i*T 

 flowers on right and left duck 



wm* 



their heads like little living things 



:i 



dodging the pelting rain-drops. 



Oh, the lovely fickleness of 

 j>f£*' an April day ! Even now 



THE FAIRY FROND. 



the distant hill is lit up by the bursting sun. Nearer and nearer the 

 gleam creeps across the landscape, chasing the shower away, and in a 

 moment more the meadows glow with a freshened green, and the trees 



