THE VOICES OF NATURE. \^\ 
more close attention you will hear the doors open and 
shut along the street, the footsteps of the passengers, 
and the scraping of the shovel of the mud-carts. If 
you think for a moment, does it not seem wonderful 
that you should hear all these sounds so that you can 
recognise each one distinctly while all the rest are 
going on around you?' 
But suppose you go into the quiet country. Sure- 
ly 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 or katydid will set up 
a chirp within a few yards of you, or, if all living crea- 
tures 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 
occasional 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 thun- 
der, and the mighty noise of the falling avalanche; 
such sounds as these tell us how great and terrible na- 
ture can be. 
Now, has it ever occurred to you to think what 
10 
