126 THE FAIRY-LAND OF SCIENCE. 
by will strike upon your ear. Then if you give still 
more close attention you will hear the doors open and 
shut along the street, the footsteps of the passengers, 
the scraping of the shovel of the mud-carts ; nay, if 
he happen to stand near, you may even hear the 
jingling of the shoeblack's pence as he plays pitch 
and toss upon the pavement. If you think for a 
moment, does it not seem wonderful that you should 
hear all these sounds so that you can recognize each 
one distinctly while all the rest are going on around 
you ? 
But suppose you go into the quiet country. 
Surely there will be silence there. Try some day 
and prove it for yourself, lie down on the grass in 
a sheltered nook and listen attentively. If there 
be ever so little wind stirring you will hear it rustling 
gently through the trees ; or even if there is not this, 
it will be strange if you do not hear some wandering 
gnat buzzing, or some busy bee humming as it moves 
from flower to flower. Then a grasshopper will set 
up a chirp within a few yards of you, or, if all living 
creatures are silent, a brook not far off may be flowing 
along with a rippling musical sound. These and a 
hundred other noises you will hear in the most quiet 
country spot ; the lowing of cattle, the song of the birds, 
the squeak of the field-mouse, the croak of the frog, 
mingling with the sound of the woodman's axe in the 
distance, or the dash of some river torrent. And 
besides these quiet sounds, there are still other occa- 
sional voices of nature which speak to us from time 
to time. The howling of the tempestuous wind, the 
roar of the sea-waves in a storm, the crash of thunder, 
