THE PETRIFIED FERX 



In a valley, centuries ago. 



Grew a little fern-leaf green and slender, 



Veiiiing delicate and fibers tender, 



Wa^^ing ^^"llen the wind crept down so h>\v: 



Rushes tall and moss and grass grew round it. 



Playful sunbeams darted in and found it. 



Drops of dew stole down Ijy night and crowned it. 



But no foot of man e'er came that way — 



Earth was young and keeping holiday. 



Monster fishes swam the silent main, 

 Stately forests waved their giant branches. 

 Mountains hurled their snowy avalanches, 

 ]\Iammoth creatures stalked across the plain. 

 Nature reveled in grand mysteries ; 

 But the little fern was not of these. 

 Did not slumber with the hills and trees. 

 Only grew and waved its wild, s"weet way; 

 No one came to note it day by day. 



Earth, one time, put on a frolic mood, 



Heaved the rocks and changed the might}- motion 



Of the deep, strong currents of the ocean; 



Moved the plain and shook the haughty wood, 



Crushed the little fern in soft, moist clay. 



Covered it and hid it safe away. 



Oh, the long, long centuries smce that day ! 



Oh, the changes ! Oh, life's bitter cost ! 



Since the useless little fern was lost. 



Useless.'' Lost.^ There came a thoughtful man 



Searching Nature's secrets far and deep; 



From a fissure in a rockj' steep 



He withdrew a stone o'er which there ran 



Fairy pencilings, a quaint design. 



Leafage, veining, fibers clear and fine, 



And the fern's life lay in every line ! 



So, I think, God hides some souls away, 



Sweetly to surprise us the last day! — M. B. Braxc 



