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diff --git a/27718.txt b/27718.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b68aa29 --- /dev/null +++ b/27718.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3073 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Parables from Flowers, by Gertrude P. Dyer + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Parables from Flowers + +Author: Gertrude P. Dyer + +Release Date: January 6, 2009 [EBook #27718] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PARABLES FROM FLOWERS *** + + + + +Produced by Chris Curnow, Meredith Bach, Lindy Walsh and +the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at +http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + +PARABLES FROM FLOWERS. + +[Illustration: PARABLES FROM FLOWERS. + +_Frontispiece._] + + + + + PARABLES FROM FLOWERS. + + + + BY + GERTRUDE P. DYER, + AUTHOR OF 'LITTLE POLLIE,' 'ARMOUR-CLAD,' ETC. ETC. + + + + _Doth not thy heart throb with emotions of thankfulness to God for + making the earth so fair, so redolent of beauty in its garniture of + flowers, and for having scattered these silent teachers up and down the + world?_ + + + + EDINBURGH: + W. P. NIMMO, HAY, & MITCHELL. + + + + + TO + MY DEAR LITTLE FRIENDS, + MABEL, ELSIE, AND RUBY TARR. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + + PAGE + + I. THE FORGET-ME-NOT--FIDELITY 7 + + II. THE SNOWDROP--FAITH 22 + + III. THE FOXGLOVES' STRATAGEM--GRATITUDE 30 + + IV. THE LITTLE MINER AND HIS FLOWER--TRUST IN GOD 46 + + V. THE LITTLE SEED--KINDNESS 68 + + VI. THE CROWN IMPERIAL--HOPE 83 + + VII. THE TWO LEAVES--DISCONTENT 89 + + VIII. THE AMBITIOUS WILD-FLOWER--AMBITION 99 + + IX. THE HONEYSUCKLE AND THE BUTTERFLY--HUMILITY AND PRIDE 115 + + + + +PARABLES FROM FLOWERS. + + + + +PARABLE FIRST. + +THE FORGET-ME-NOT--FIDELITY. + + +In the days of the long-ago, my ancestors did not dwell as we do now--in +brooks or by the banks of shallow streams, but grew in wild luxuriance +beneath the shade of overhanging trees, and under the wayside hedgerows. + +We were always a quiet, unassuming race, and, indeed, I am fain to +confess, were not held in more esteem by mortals than are our sweet +cousins whom children call 'Bird's-eyes.' But some one made known to the +world that pathetic 'Legend of the Rhine,' in which we are described, +then people began to perceive that we were pretty, lovely indeed,--and +to make a great fuss about us; but such is the way of the world! + +Yet, though that legend is tenderly beautiful and thrilling, it is +almost too romantic to please the taste of simple flowers, therefore I +will tell you the true story how we acquired our name. That shall be my +parable--see what it will teach! + +We grew there, unheeded and unsought, on soft mossy banks, not the less +lovely because unknown, and just above our dwelling-place a large oak +spread abroad its leafy branches. It was a favourite tree of the birds, +they felt so secure there, sheltered from prying eyes by its protecting +leaves; besides, its branches were so firm and strong, they resisted +bravely the fury of the storms that swept over them. What bird, then, +would fear to build its nest there? And often have we listened to their +sweet songs as they perched above us, and many times lifted our heads +and gazed upon the happy inmates of those simple homes. + +But there was one family among them that interested us even more than +others, though all were dear to us. It was a pair of wrens who had by +some strange accident taken up their abode in our oak, instead of a +yew-tree as they generally do; and not only my family, but the whole +colony of birds, old inhabitants of the tree, many of them, felt great +interest in the new-comers, assisting them with advice, as they were but +young. + +Then, when building time came, how kind they all were! indeed, though it +was a busy season with every bird, each anxious to finish its work, yet +I heard an old Rook one day ask little Jenny Wren 'if he should help +her,' as he met her trying to drag a large wisp of straw with all her +tiny strength. + +'No, thank you,' she gently replied; 'I must try to do it. We must all +learn to bear our own burdens.' + +But many times, however, I have seen the larger and stronger birds bring +materials for making the nest close to the spot they had chosen, to save +the little strangers weary journeys; and at last, after much patient +labour, the home was finished, to the intense delight of the two +builders, for both took their share in the work; but the joy was +greater, when, after some time, three little birds made their appearance +in the compact and cosy nest. + +The event caused quite a sensation among the other dwellers in our old +tree. Jays were constantly inquiring how the nestlings were getting on, +an inquisitive Magpie peeped into the nest, trying to get a glimpse of +the pretty ones, and received a sharp peck from the angry father as a +reproof for the intrusion; as to the motherly Rooks, who were supposed +to care for nothing save their own family concerns, they kindly advised +the young parents how to rear the brood, saying, 'Care, care,' was all +that was necessary; nay, it is even recorded, as an undoubted fact, that +an old Owl, who had lived for ages in a hole in the tree, actually +opened her eyes quite wide when the news was first told to her, although +it was broad daylight! You may imagine, then, how happy they were, +surrounded thus by kindness and love; and yet--I suppose it is but right +there are ever shadows as well as sunshine, and, sad though it seems, +every life must have bitters mingled with the sweets; still they were so +joyous in that tiny nest! Why, ah, why was their happiness to be +clouded? Alas, it grieves me even now to tell, though many long years +have since then passed away! + +One day the father-bird went from the nest, and never returned! + +Long and patiently waited his little mate, hoping each moment to hear +his welcome note, as swiftly he winged his way back to her. But the day +wore on, the evening sun grew golden, then faded in the purple west--but +still he came not! The other dwellers in the oak returned to their +homes, yet they brought no tidings of the wanderer. After a while their +happy voices were hushed in sleep, the Blackbird ceased to warble his +evening hymn, and all were buried in slumber, and at rest! + +All? Ah, no! the lonely mourner was waking still, gazing up with sad, +sad eyes at the starry heavens above, asking the night-winds as they +moaned around: + +'Will he not return to me?' + +Days passed, slowly dragging their length wearily on for the lonely bird +in that desolate nest. Yet, though her heart was breaking, she tended +her tiny nestlings, neglecting none of her daily duties; for his dear +sake she loved them yet the more, hoping as each day came it would bring +him back, and striving to imagine his delight when he returned, and +found his young ones almost fledged. But still the days dawned, the +weary hours went by, the sickness of hope deferred would fall upon her +loving heart, crushing it almost to breaking; yet bravely she struggled +with her woe. It was when the holy stars shone down, gazing pityingly +at her meekly raised eyes, and she was alone in stillness with her great +sorrow, that then would she murmur with a bitter cry,-- + +'When will he come home to me again?' + +Yet still he came not! + +Then her brave heart gave way. In vain the other birds tried to comfort +her; she could not be comforted, for he she so dearly loved 'was not.' + +'Do not grieve, do not grieve--cheer thee, che-eer thee,' sang the +Robin, as he perched beside her. + +Or the Thrush tried to advise, saying, 'Don't fret, don't fret; 'tis a +pity, 'tis a pity!' + +But one bright sunny day a Swallow came flying along. He had just +returned from far distant lands, and all the other birds gathered +chittering around him, eager to hear the news he had brought. He told +them of much he had seen whilst on the wing; also that he was the +pioneer, his brothers would soon rejoin him, for Summer was coming; he +had heard her heralds in the fields and groves, had marked her +flower-decked path in forest and in lane. But what was summer to the +heart-broken Wren? There would be no sunshine for her, since _he_ was +not there--he who was her all. + +'Oh, Swallow,' she timidly asked, 'have you seen my own love?' + +Then the eyes of the Swallow became tear-dimmed, as sadly he replied,-- + +'Little Jenny Wren, I have!' + +'Where--oh, where?' she cried in thrilling accents. + +He hesitated a few moments, though to her impatience it seemed hours; he +wished to spare her further agony if he could--but the truth must be +told. + +'Tell me, tell me,' she pleaded, impatient at the delay. + +'In a prison,' was the reply. + +'In a prison!' she repeated, horror-struck at the disclosure; then she +added, 'I will go to him, and share his captivity.' + +'Nay, nay,' remonstrated a motherly Sparrow; 'your little +ones--think--think--see--see!' + +Sadly she drooped her head upon her breast; her heart was divided +between a mother's duty and a wife's love. + +'I will take care of the nestlings,' said a young Linnet; 'they shall +feed with my little ones, I will shelter them under my wings.' + +Gratefully the poor wee bird looked at her generous friend; words were +not needed to express her thanks. + +'Take me to him,' she piteously asked, turning to the Swallow. + +'I shall pass that way to-morrow,' he said, 'for I must go and meet my +comrades, to guide them here. You can go with me; I will take you to +where he is imprisoned.' + +The next morning, before the sun had risen, away flew the Swallow, and +with him the little Wren. She heeded not that the valleys were still +shrouded in mist, or that the cold grey dawn yet lingered in the skies; +was not her sunshine coming? should she not soon see him who was her +brightness? The day wore on, and onward still by the Swallow's side, +she, with untiring pinions, winged her way; she suffered not from +noontide heat, she felt not even the pangs of hunger or thirst, for her +heart was filled with hope. But towards evening her pitying guide led +her over a hot, murky town; the very sky above it was hidden by the +thick atmosphere of smoke which seemed completely to envelope it; the +two birds could scarcely breathe, the air was so dense with poisonous +gases. + +'It cannot be here?' she gasped, as suddenly the Swallow paused in his +rapid flight. + +'See, see!' was his exclamation. + +Then, raising her heavy eyes, she saw, suspended from a high window, a +small wire cage, and in it--her long-lost mate! + +He was resting on a low perch, with his poor aching head beneath his +wing; his pretty brown feathers were no longer smoothly plumed, but hung +ragged and tattered around his wasted form, so different to the bright, +bonnie bird of the long-ago! But she heeded not the change; to her he +was as beautiful, ay, and more dear than ever, so, flying up, she clung +with eager feet to the cruel bars which kept her from him, and, pressing +her beak as close as possible to the cage, she murmured,-- + +'I am here, love!' + +At the sound of that sweet voice, so well remembered by the captive, he +raised his drooped head, and, gazing at her with all the old loving +tenderness, whispered feebly,-- + +'Is it you, Jenny? Ah, I knew you would come!' + +And every evening found her there. Patiently would she stay near the +prisoner throughout the dark watches of the night, cheering her loved +one because she was near; but when the grey dawn came stealing over the +skies, away she would fly back to the nest in the oak, and during the +day would carefully tend her little ones, fulfilling thus her double +duty as wife and mother. Then when the evening star appeared, telling +her of the gloaming, she would hush her nestlings with a soothing +lullaby, and, when they were sleeping, would swiftly fly to her +imprisoned mate, bearing in her beak a sprig of moss, or a leaf from the +well-remembered spot where they had been so happy in the spring-time of +their life; and when she reached the prison, if her loved one was +grieving, pining for the liberty he had lost, the home ties thus rudely +broken, her sweet voice murmuring, 'I am here, love,' seemed to bring +comfort to that poor failing heart; and as she tenderly pressed her +cool, fresh beak to his, so parched and dry, he would reply, striving to +be gay for her dear sake,-- + +'Ah, Jenny, you have brought on your wings some sunlight from our old +home, my darling.' + +One evening, when as usual she flew to the prison, she found him lying +at the bottom of the cage, speechless and motionless. Frantically she +tore at the cruel bars, beating them with her wings in an agony of +despair. + +'My own love, my own love!' she cried aloud in her anguish; 'speak to me +once again!' + +Her beloved voice seemed to possess the power to recall him back to +life, for he heard her, though the shadows of death were stealing over +him. + +'Jenny, darling,' he feebly whispered, as she bent low to catch the +faintest word, 'they have broken my heart. Ah, why did they keep me thus +captive?' + +'Oh, do not die!' she moaned; 'think how lonely I should be in this wide +world without you.' + +'If I were but free, we should be so happy again, love,' he said, +gasping painfully for breath as he spoke. + +'I will release you,' she cried, and strove with all her strength to +unfasten the prison door, but in vain--it resisted all her efforts. + +'What shall I do? what shall I do? He will die, and I cannot help him,' +moaned forth the poor Wren in accents of despair. + +'My sweet one,' he murmured, 'do not grieve so bitterly. Death were +better far than life if separated from you; but, before I close my eyes +for ever upon this world which the good God who loveth us hath created +so beautiful, bring me just one spray of those little blue flowers.' + +'I know them!' she eagerly cried; 'a cluster grew beneath our nest.' + +'Yes,' he continued; 'and when I used to return home I could see them +afar off, and would think, "Jenny is there, and their blue eyes are +looking upon her." Bring me one tiny spray, darling, and if I die when +you are from me, we shall not seem so very far apart, for those sweet +flowers will whisper to me of you.' + +She waited no longer, but flew rapidly away to bring the blossoms on +which he wished to look once again; but she had not long gone when a +young girl came to the cage, and saw the poor captive bird as Jenny had +found him--still and motionless as though dying, and her heart was +filled with tender pity, that its brief life should thus be so soon +ended. + +'Poor birdie! I fear it is dying,' she said. 'I will unfasten the cage; +perhaps the fresh air will revive him, and bring back his failing +strength.' + +And with kindly hands she opened the prison door, thus giving him +liberty. + +The cool, fresh air, stirring his drooping feathers, aroused him from +his lethargy; at first he could not believe that the door was open, that +he was free. It was almost too much happiness for the poor sick bird to +bear; yet it was true--freedom was his, and his first thought was of +Jenny. + +He would fly to meet her, as he knew she would soon return, bearing with +her the blue flowers he loved, and then, when she saw _him_ coming +towards her,--free, yes, free!--would not all past sorrow be forgotten +in the ever-present joy? So, with a twitter of gratitude to the girl who +had opened his prison door, he fluttered his wings, just to try their +strength, poised a while in the air, then away he flew with unerring +instinct towards his dear home in the old oak tree. + +But of Jenny? + +With a sad weight upon her poor little heart, crushing it with the iron +grip of despair, she reached the spot where the flowers grew, plucked a +few blossoms from the stem, then away again, without pausing to rest, +bearing the prized flowerets in her beak. She felt not fatigue; though +her weary pinions sometimes faltered, still she heeded it not, still +struggling on, eager to reach where he lay dying. Her only thought was: + +'If he were to die, and I not with him.' + +But slower and slower grew her flight; strength at last was failing, for +it had been too severely tried; her breath came quick and fast, in +short, fitful gasps, and her heart beat heavily beneath her quivering +breast. + +'Oh, but to see him once more!' she moaned, as she felt her weary wings +failed to do her bidding. She tried to fly yet a little farther, in +vain; her tired pinions fluttered for a while, then down she sank, +slowly, slowly, on to the calm bosom of a rippling stream that was +flowing on over its pebbly sands with soothing melody. + +'Jenny, Jenny, my own love, where are you? I have sought you so long, my +darling,' she heard the well-known voice exclaiming. + +She raised her dying eyes, and saw her loved mate hovering above her in +the summer air. + +'I am here, love,' she faintly murmured. + +Then with all the old love-light beaming from her soft, gentle eyes, she +turned to gaze at her poor desolate mate, who was rending the air with +his piteous cries, then closed them for ever, with a look of perfect +peace, murmuring softly,-- + +'Dearest, forget me not.' + +And the rippling stream bore her gently away echoing with a plaintive +wail her dying words: + +'Dearest, forget me not.' + +The poor widowed bird caught the flowers as they were floating away on +the breast of his lost love, and carried them to his now desolate home; +but one little blossom, in tender pity for sweet Jenny Wren, detached +itself from the others to linger still with the poor dead bird; and when +the stream had carefully borne its precious burden to a shady nook, +where she could rest, for ever freed from sorrow and pain, the flower +was carried with her, and, taking root above the spot where she lay +buried, put forth its blue blossoms in loving remembrance of that fond, +faithful heart. + +And thus it is how we became dwellers close to tranquil streams, and why +our name is still 'forget-me-not.' + + + + +PARABLE SECOND. + +THE SNOWDROP--FAITH. + + +My life has been so tranquil, that I fear it will not possess much +interest; for, when first recollection dawned, I remember finding myself +far down in the earth--a small bulb, not much to look at, I am thinking. +But very happy were the days spent there with my companions. We in our +ignorance deemed the world a dreary place, and wished we could for ever +stay where it was so cosy and warm; but our Mother Earth was carefully +instructing us, teaching us the same precious lessons she unfolds to her +other children, if they will but read the ever-open book, by man called +'Nature.' + +I know not how long it was that the Frost King kept the land bound +captive in icy chains, but at last the signal for freedom came. The +trees awoke from their winter sleep, and, casting off their sombre +garments of sheathed leaves, came forth in vestments of tender green; +the bees, too, sent out their pioneers, who hastened back to the hives +with the glad tidings of the sunshine and of awakening flowers. The +birds flew hither and thither on joyous wings, twittering their simple +gratitude to Him who 'heareth the ravens cry;' for they indeed were +thankful that the dark days were past, and that 'the time of the singing +of birds had come.' As to the little brooks and streams, how rejoiced +were they to be free once more! they bounded away over the sandy +shallows or pebbly beds, laughing for very gladness, and kissing the +green banks whose fresh verdure they laved, whilst murmuring to them +their gladsome song: + + + 'I'm free! oh, joy! I am free once again! + I have burst with delight my icy chain, + And gaily I flow to the open sea, + Joyously singing, I'm free! oh, I'm free! + + I kiss the green banks as I glide along, + I woo the birds with my peaceful song; + The sunbeams they dance to my joyous strain, + Whilst gaily I fling their rays back again.' + + +And for us also came the appointed time, when we too had to leave the +home in which we had been so tenderly nurtured; we were to go, ready +prepared to do the work marked out for us. + +But I did not wish to go; I feared to face a world unknown to me, and +fain would have lingered in the home so loved. + +'Why must I leave you?' I asked of our gentle parent. 'I cannot bear the +separation.' + +'My child,' she replied, with something of reproach in her soft voice, +'have you so soon forgotten the lesson I taught you, that He who created +all things, createth nothing in vain? Go forth upon the earth, and speak +in parables of His glorious works.' + +'What can I teach?--I, so small, and of no repute!' I asked, still +doubting. + +'Some lesson of His goodness to the children of men,' was her reply. + +'But everything on earth appears to have its appointed mission; there +seems no work for me,' I urged in excuse. + +'God will find something for even you to do,' she said; 'it may be only +a message from Him.' + +'A message!' I repeated. 'What could I say to others? Already have all +the flowers their symbols: the Violet is the Hope flower, the +Heart's-ease speaks of Thought; what can we Snowdrops tell?' + +Our mother did not answer--she left us to find what lessons we best +could teach. + +So day by day we grew, stronger and stronger, gradually becoming better +fitted to perform the work allotted; until at last I appeared above the +ground--a slender green leaf! + +Never shall I forget how cheerless looked the earth when first I came +above it, so dull and black, save where a few snowflakes had been +drifted by the wintry winds; all else was bleak and bare. There was not +a gleam of sunshine athwart the leaden sky to cheer us, nor a bird to +meet us with a friendly greeting, for even the robins kept so near the +houses for warmth and shelter, they came not to the spot where we grew, +alone and sad; and as to the trees, they as yet stood silent above us, +only the Holly was still decked with gay scarlet berries, enlivening up +the gloomy landscape with a little bright colour. But the Holly smiled +not on us; armed at all points in his glossy coat of shining mail, he +was so lofty and grand, and we were only--Snowdrops! + +But I grew on, cherished by our great Mother Nature, who careth for all +her children, and loves them tenderly, be they humble Daisies or the +queenly Rose; and at last I became a perfect flower, taking my pure +white tints from the snow around me, and borrowing just a faint tinge of +green from the young grass that was now bravely struggling to appear. + +By and by, a Blackbird, with golden beak and shining coat, found me out +as he was seeking a convenient tree in which to make a nest, and, bowing +politely, exclaimed,-- + +'Welcome to you, fair Snowdrop! I am rejoiced to see you, for you bring +us the assurance that spring is on the way, and we shall be glad, for +the winter has been long and dreary.' + +Then he having communicated the glad tidings to the other birds, they +also came to greet me, cheering my loneliness with their sweet songs. +Yet still I pined to return to earth again; I cared not to look upward, +but hung my head, murmuring sadly,-- + +'Oh, Mother Earth, take home thy child! she is so weary of her life +here.' + +Was I wrong? Perhaps so, but I owed my existence to that which mortals +deem so cold and dark; I loved it with the affection of a loving child, +and longed to rest again upon the dear bosom that had sheltered me when +I was but a frail bulb. + +Besides, it seemed to me that I was doing no good. Why was I sent here, +if only to bloom and then die? I had been told that nothing was created +in vain; was I doing the work for which I had been sent upon the earth? + +Whilst thus repining over my useless life, a poet passed by +chance--stay, was it chance? nay, there is no chance! He was one who as +yet had met with but little success; I am told there are many such among +earth's children. We know that it is said: + + + 'Many a flower is born to blush unseen, + And waste its sweetness on the desert air;' + + +yet the sweetness is not _lost_, for it speaks with a perfumed voice to +the creatures of the air; but among mortals, many fade away into utter +oblivion, breathing only their sad, sweet heart-songs to the listening +winds around. + +And this poet of whom I speak, he felt within himself the inspiration +of genius, that innate love of the beautiful and true which comes from +God alone; but the world looked coldly on him, and he was struggling +with what seemed endless disappointments, battling with them bravely, +yet almost sinking amidst the strife. His very heart was beginning to +fail him, his noble courage to give way, when he saw me there, +blossoming alone in that quiet nook. + +'Oh, God!' he cried, as, with clasped hands and eyes raised heavenward, +he sank beside me on the sod,--'oh, God, forgive me that I should dare +to doubt Thy loving care, when this fragile, fragile flower, sheltered +by Thee, has braved the wintry storms, while the cold winds pass +tenderly over its bowed head. A bruised reed Thou wilt not break; Thou +carest for the lilies of the field,--why then should I fear when +adversity assails me? Art Thou not still above, though heaven seems so +far off, and oh, so cold and pitiless! I will have faith in Thy divine +and fatherly love, and accept the lesson this sweet flower hath taught +me.' + + * * * * * + +Yes, faith--faith in God, was the parable I was sent to teach, and I +also have learned to know that, though the skies may be dark and the +winds--oh, so cold! yet if we only wait, and trust Him, the sunshine +will come at last, and the breath of heaven never visit us too roughly. + + + + +PARABLE THIRD. + +THE FOXGLOVES' STRATAGEM--GRATITUDE. + + +We lived on the garden wall of an old-farmhouse, over which the vines +grew in rare luxuriance, covering it with their climbing tendrils and +leaves; and in the autumn the purple and white grapes peeped from +beneath their leafy shelter, mocking the thirsty throats of the village +lads who passed that way, and who looked longingly up at the ripe +clusters. + +It was a very old place, I am told, and had been inhabited by the same +family for many successive generations. Fathers had tilled the soil, +then laid aside the plough for ever. Sons had sprung up to take their +place, and they too, in their turn, were gathered in, when the bearded +grain was ripe for the sickle of the great 'Reaper, whose name is +Death,' leaving the old homestead to others of the same name and race, +who loved the home in which they were born, and wherein those they most +cherished had lived and died. + +The Swallows, too, loved it, returning year after year to their nests +under the eaves, and from early dawn 'to dewy eve,' all through the warm +summer days, flew hither and thither with swift, untiring wing, chasing +each other, as it were, or teaching their young to fly. As to the +Robins, they hopped in at the open door under the rustic porch, just as +if they belonged to the place, and were sure of a welcome, which indeed +they were! And that porch--what a cosy corner it was, with seats on +either side, inviting weary feet to rest! the sunbeams were always +playing bo-peep through the leaves which hung clustering around; the +Honeysuckles and Clematis decking it, too, with their blossoms, +scattering their delicious perfume the while. But I always thought the +spot looked brightest when little Susie was there--she who was the very +sunshine of the old home! And how they all loved her, from the +white-headed grandfather down to the little ploughboy, who brought her +all the poor motherless or sick creatures he found on the farm, were it +but a half-fledged bird or a stray kitten, certain of her thanks, and a +sweet smile; and as to her three big brothers, who had such influence +over them as little Susie? for even when they were disputing as to whose +turn it was to ride Brown Bess (the joint property of the children), +Susie was always chosen umpire to decide the important question, and +they abode by her decision. + +Why, it was Susie who saved us from being ruthlessly destroyed! for it +happened that one day old Peter was at work in the garden, and, to make +the place 'a bit more tidy,' as he said, was proceeding to cut us off +from the wall. + +'They bain't o' much account,' he muttered, sharpening his hook; 'not +loike them there Roses maister sets sich store by, and thinks so much +on.' + +Certainly it seemed very sad that, because we were merely 'common +flowers,' our lives were to be cut short long before the appointed time; +we had endeavoured to bloom as brightly as our more refined sisters, and +in sunshine or shower had tried our best to look gay, and, I think, had +succeeded, for we do not shut our petals as if we were sulking when +dark clouds come, but keep them always open. But the fiat had gone +forth--old Peter was the stern arbitrator of our destinies! and, feeling +that our fate was inevitable, we sighed a last long farewell to each +other, just as we saw him raise his sharp hook to cut us down. At that +moment, so 'big with fate' for us, who should come into the garden, +singing for very gladness like the birds themselves, but little Susie; +the sunlight was playing with her waving hair, her eyes sparkled as the +dewdrops in the sun, and her tiny feet skipped lightly along as she came +dancing up the pathway. + +That prolonged our lives! Old Peter dropped his hook to turn round and +look at his young mistress. + +'What are you going to do, Peter?' she inquired, as she drew near, and +saw him take up his tools to resume work. + +'Whoy, lop doun these 'ere things, Miss Zusie,' he replied, pointing at +us contemptuously. + +'Oh, please don't destroy them! they are so pretty!' was her eager +exclamation. + +'Purty, missie!' the old man repeated, with astonishment; 'whoy, them be +wild loike.' + +'But I love them dearly,' she persisted; 'so please leave them there.' + +'But the maister?' pursued Peter, rubbing his rough head in his +perplexity; 'he told me to clear roight up.' + +Peter, it must be observed, was 'the odd man' about the farm; there is +always one. + +'Father will say you did quite right to let them live,' replied the +little lady; 'he likes them as much as I do, for he says he remembers +them always growing here, coming up year after year without troubling +any one to look after them, and making the old wall a very +flower-garden.' + +'Well, Miss Zusie, if so be ye sez so, I s'pose I must,' he acquiesced, +though I think he was greatly disappointed that he could not have his +own way about it; so there we were left, and we bloomed more than ever, +striving to do our best in gratitude to the little maiden. + +Now, I have noticed, as a rule,--mind, every rule has exceptions,--that +good deeds, like good seed, seldom fall to the ground and wither away. +Both may lie fallow, for a while at least, but the flower comes up after +a while, and 'with what measure ye mete, it is meted to you again.' You +may not have remarked this, perhaps, but the fact holds good, proving +most emphatically the sacred truth, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they +shall obtain mercy.' + +Now, when Susie saved our lives, she never thought that simple flowers +could ever repay her kindness, and for some time, it is true, we did +nothing, only strove to make the garden wall look gay with our sturdy +buds and blossoms. + +But one day, I remember, Susie sat on the lawn close by the wall on +which we grew, very busy making a smart new dress for her doll, Miss +Arabella, who sat propped up by a work-box at her back, with her arms +straight out, and her toes turned in, but with a sweet smile upon her +waxen face. They were evidently engaged in earnest conversation, for +Susie kept speaking in her own voice for herself, and using a very +shrill falsetto for Arabella, who, by the bye, appeared to reply only in +monosyllables. + +In the midst of this very entertaining discourse I heard another voice +exclaiming,-- + +'Look 'ee 'ere, Miss Zusie, this vowl 'ave airt her vut;' and the small +ploughboy I before mentioned came in at the garden gate, holding a hen +in his arms. + +'Oh, give it to me, Joey,' cried the little girl, full of sympathy for +the wounded bird. 'How did it happen? Poor dear, poor dear!' + +With that Joey poured forth a long account of the accident, to which she +listened attentively, all the while soothing the lamed hen, and wrapping +it up in her soft frock. + +'I will bathe its poor foot in warm water, and try to get it well,' she +said, after thanking Joey for bringing it to her; and she went into the +house, leaving Arabella alone on the lawn, cautioning her, however, 'to +be a good child until mamma returned.' + +It was some days before we again saw the hen, and then she was quite +restored, and had been given to Susie as her 'very own' because of the +care she had bestowed upon her; indeed, she had become quite a pet, +actually was allowed to roam about the flower-garden and lawns; and some +one had given her the name of 'Zenobia,'--an inconvenient name to call +when in a hurry, but Susie was very satisfied with it, and so, I +suppose, was the hen, who seemed to love her little mistress, following +her wherever she went, eating from her hand, and even perching on her +shoulder! After some time Zenobia was to be seen walking about, followed +by a family of nine chickens; and really I cannot tell which was most +proud of the young brood, Susie or the hen. Susie called them 'loves' +and 'beauties,' and the hen, she clucked, and made a great fuss over +them, and, as if determined that their bed should be of roses, insisted +on roosting every night under a rose-bush which grew near the garden +gate, instead of the cosy coop with which she had been provided. + +Well, one moonlight night we, of course, were awake, though the church +clock had long since struck the hour of midnight; and it was so still, +only the voices of the night murmuring among the trees, though +occasionally we could hear the soft crooning of the hen, as she hushed +her little family to sleep beneath the rose-bush. Suddenly we heard the +sound of stealthy footsteps creeping under the wall. + +'It is only Dash, the house dog,' whispered a sister-flower, who grew on +the same stem as myself. + +'Dash does not steal along in that crafty manner,' said another. + +'Perhaps it is a rabbit,' suggested one, 'or a cat taking a walk.' + +'It may be a rat.' + +Various conjectures were hazarded by those who grew low down on the +wall, but I was higher up than they, so, looking cautiously over, what +should I see but a Fox creeping along, and scenting his prey, with his +sharp nose close to the ground. + +'Good evening!' I called out to him. + +He started with alarm, for great rascals are always great cowards. + +'Oh, good evening, my friend,' he replied, very blandly. 'Charming +evening this for a walk.' + +'Yes,' I answered sharply; 'but rather late for respectable folks to be +abroad!' + +'Ah yes, just so,' was his response; 'but, you see, my doctor has +advised me to take quiet rambles.' + +'It was not Dr. Quack, was it?' I asked; 'because, poor fellow, he came +to an untimely end the other night,--had his head bitten off, and his +body was then dragged across the yard, as I suppose you already know?' + +'Dear me!' he ejaculated, with affected pity, and glancing slyly up at +me out of the corner of his red eyes; 'but how should I know, my +friend?' + +'Oh, because some of your family are strongly suspected,' was my reply; +'indeed, our Dash is on the watch, so I would advise you to'-- + +'Good-night, good-night,' he hurriedly exclaimed. 'I feel the winds are +becoming very chilly.' + +So saying, he shuffled off as fast as possible, more especially as at +that moment Dash began barking furiously, as though he scented a foe. +How we laughed to think we had frightened the artful fellow away, and +some of us thought we should never see him again; but we were mistaken, +for, a few nights after, there he was creeping along so stealthily +outside the garden wall. + +'What do you want?' I called out to him. + +'Nothing, my friend, nothing,' was his answer. + +'Well, since we do not keep that article here, you had better seek it +elsewhere,' interposed a brother of mine who is rather saucy. + +The Fox paused for a moment, as if hesitating what to say; at length he +began, in a whining tone of voice,-- + +'My beloved friends, I perceive I must take you into my confidence. The +fact is, my worthy doctor says I am in delicate health, and has +therefore directed me'-- + +'Well,' I said, seeing that he hesitated; 'what of that?' + +'Simply this; he has ordered me to eat only light, digestible food, such +as chicken,' he went on to say. + +'Oh, has he?' I remarked; and then I thought to myself, 'Now can your +craftiness be seen through: you are after Zenobia; but Susie saved our +lives, she shall not find the poor despised Fox-gloves ungrateful. We +will save Zenobia!' + +However, Mr. Reynard had not guessed our thoughts (for we all thought +alike on the subject), but continued,-- + +'Now, charming friends, I know you have a most delightful hen in this +garden.' + +'Oh yes, and nine such plump chickens!' cried my brother. + +'Oh dear, how very nice!' exclaimed the Fox. + +'And I have no doubt,' continued my brother, whilst we could hardly +restrain our mirth, 'but that Zenobia would willingly give them up to +you, for the honour of being devoured by so distinguished a personage.' + +'Would she really?' he cried, swallowing this piece of flattery as +greedily as he would the chickens. + +'Oh yes,' I chimed in; 'but there's one thing I would mention. Grandees +like you must be formally introduced. Zenobia would be horrified were +you to appear before her so unceremoniously; she might even refuse your +request for one of the chickens.' + +'What shall I do, then?' he eagerly questioned. + +'Why, dress yourself of course, appear _en grande toilette_,' I replied; +'brush up your whiskers a little more, make your coat look glossy, and, +above all, put on a pair of gloves!' + +'Gloves!' he repeated. 'I have not a single pair; tell me where I can +purchase them?' + +'Leave that to us,' said my brother, bursting with glee. 'Originally, +you must know, we were Fox-glovers, but somehow we have lost our ancient +privilege; therefore have the supreme graciousness to restore it to us, +and we will be only too proud to serve you.' + +'Oh, certainly,' assented the Fox, assuming at once an air of patronage +that was highly amusing. 'I take six and three-quarters,' extending his +forepad. + +'No, surely not!' protested my merry brother; 'you must be mistaken; +such a pretty little paw as yours cannot possibly require such a large +glove. Allow me to suggest six and a quarter.' + +The Fox agreed to the size named. + +'If you will condescend to call here to-morrow night about this time, +they shall be ready for you,' one of us declared. + +'Thank you,' he said loftily, as though he was conferring a favour upon +us, and off he went, no doubt congratulating himself on his diplomacy. +As to us, we laughed heartily, knowing how the crafty old fellow would +be caught in his own toils. + +The next day, when we saw Susie feeding and caressing Zenobia, how we +longed for the power to tell her of the danger that so fearfully menaced +her pet, but we could not; for, though there is a 'language of flowers,' +it does not discourse on such a topic as this, therefore we were +compelled to keep silence; but we were determined to do our best to +guard little Susie's treasure. Night came, and dark and dreary it was +too, with heavy clouds drifting across the moon, almost hiding its +brightness; and it grew so late, past twelve, we began to think Mr. +Reynard suspected us, and would not come. But he did, looking so sleek +and shiny, with his coat all spick and span, being freshly brushed, I +expect. + +'Here I am, my friends; it has taken me so long to dress,' he said, +panting with the haste he had evidently made. 'Is Zenobia--what a sweet +name, to be sure!' he added in a fawning voice,--'is she here?' + +'Of course she is,' I replied; 'can you not hear her crooning to her +_nine_ children?' with a strong emphasis on the number. + +'Sweet, tender creature!' he exclaimed. 'Oh, but to know her yet more +intimately! Let me jump over the gate to her!' + +'What! without your gloves on?' cried several of us at once; 'consider +how very vulgar you would look.' + +'Dear, dear, I quite forgot,' he ejaculated rather impatiently; +evidently he wanted his supper. + +'Here they are,' said my brother; 'pray allow me the honour of putting +them on for you.' + +He saw the fox was all impatience; however, he was obliged to consent, +and my brother proceeded forthwith to fit on a pair of Fox-gloves made +expressly by us. + +'They are rather a tight fit,' he nervously remarked. + +'Rather,' we cried, as my brother held him fast by the paws, and we went +to assist him in keeping the scoundrel a prisoner. + +He saw, when too late, the trap into which he had fallen, and struggled +hard to get free, even trying to pull us from off the old wall in his +futile efforts to escape. But we were too securely fixed there for his +strength to be of any avail; our roots were the growth of years, and, +besides, we clasped him so tightly--for unity is indeed strength--that +at last the cowardly fellow roared aloud with mingled pain and fright; +perhaps he thought to startle us, and make us lose our hold. But we knew +better than that--_we_ only gripped him the faster; but the noise +aroused Dash, who came bounding to the spot (he was always unchained at +night), and, flying at Mr. Reynard's throat, he soon pinned him to the +ground. + +The farmer and his sons must have heard the cries of the Fox and the +baying of Dash, for presently they came running as fast as possible to +the spot, armed with all sorts of weapons, and soon despatched the +rascal. + +And it would have pleased you to have heard the praises bestowed upon +the brave old dog for his courage, which praise he most certainly +deserved; but no one thought of us. However, we had our reward in +feeling that we had done our duty, and tried to repay our debt of +gratitude to little Susie; that was recompense enough for us, nor did we +wish for more, for-- + + + 'On their own merits Modest men are dumb;' + + +and so say we simple Foxgloves. + + + + +PARABLE FOURTH. + +THE LITTLE MINER AND HIS FLOWER--TRUST IN GOD. + + +I do not think any of us would care to pass the greater part of our days +down in a coal mine, or even to live in the vicinity of one. For miles +around the country is barren of trees or flowers; even the grass does +not grow there; the very air is dense with black smoke from the numerous +chimneys, so that the sky is hidden, as it were, by a thick, murky veil. +But, if thus dreary by day, how much more dreadful does it look at +night, when the lurid glare from the furnaces lights up the sky with a +red gleam, which can be seen far and wide! it has then in it something +terrible. + +As I said just now, not a flower can thrive in such a close and heavy +atmosphere; not even a blade of grass can push its way up through the +coal-encrusted soil which covers the earth. Well may it be called the +'Black Country;' and yet there are brave, good men living, ay, and +working there, day after day descending those dark shafts and in the +underground of the mines living out their hard, laborious lives, braving +dangers innumerable, to provide for the wants of their fellow-men; yet I +wonder how many of us, as we gather round the cosy fireside of home, +ever think of the hardy miners. All honour, then, to that Christian man, +whose noble heart thought so much of them and of the risks they +encounter in the deep mines; his mighty genius studied to avert the +dangers to which they are exposed, and by his clever invention many +thousand lives have been saved. Statues are raised to soldiers and +statesmen, and their deeds are chronicled all over the world, yet the +simple-hearted Cornish chemist has done more for England's glory than +all her greatest warriors or statesmen! + +Sometimes, it is true, terrible accidents happen even now, and indeed, +had any one passed through a certain coal district on the day of which +we speak, a scene of desolation and misery would have presented itself; +for there had been a colliery accident!--a fearful explosion in a mine +through some (as yet) unknown cause, and they were now bringing up the +dead and dying. We too often, alas! read these sad accounts in the +newspapers, but cannot fully realize the intense anguish and despair +among the mining population when such a calamity befalls them. Try to +picture, then, the men, women, and even children, who were gathered in +anxious groups around the mouth of the pit, eagerly waiting to see if +any of their kindred were among the hapless victims; and when the brave +rescue party would appear above the shaft, bearing in their arms the +sufferers, wailing cries would rend the very air, as some poor woman +recognised her son or her 'good man' in the crushed and mangled form +they laid so tenderly down! + +There was a little cottage standing among others of the same class, but +which from its appearance seemed to betoken the residence of one more +refined than the rest, for snowy curtains draped the windows, the panes +of which were scrupulously clean, and the doorsteps were as white as +hands could make them. Going now towards this cottage, a group of men +might be seen, carefully carrying a heavy burden, over which a sheet +was spread. It was their foreman--a man loved and respected by them all, +and the hearts of these rough colliers beat sadly, as they bore him thus +towards his once happy home! + +The rumour of the catastrophe, and of her husband being one among the +many poor sufferers, had burst upon his wife like the surging of an +angry wave, overwhelming her with its force, and she sat with ashen +cheeks and quivering lips, listening with bated breath for that which +she knew must come, the while convulsively clasping in her arms their +only child, their fair-haired Davie. But when at last she heard the +measured tread of those who bore him coming nearer and nearer to her +door, she rose, with a shivering sob, to meet him, as she had ever done, +with a loving smile, though now her heart was full of anguish. And he +knew her, for he put out his poor crushed hand for her to take, faintly +murmuring,-- + +'My poor, poor girl!' + +Tenderly, as with the gentle touch of woman, those rugged men laid him +upon the bed from which he had risen in full health and strength, and +the wife's hand was firm, as softly she removed the garments from his +mangled limbs. Ah, little had she thought, when she bade him 'Good-bye' +that morning, his return would have been thus. He had said to Davie in +his merry way, laying his hand on the boy's curly head,-- + +'Ah, young man, soon you will be the bread-winner; your old father will +then be able to sit idle by the ingle and smoke his pipe, whilst mother +looks on.' + +He had returned to the ingle, but Davie was still a child! + + * * * * * + +A few anxious days, and all was over; the end had come, and he and his +fellow-sufferers were laid to rest beneath the fresh green turf in a +distant churchyard, and the poor young widow was alone in the wide +world, with only little Davie! + +But the poor have no time to spare for mourning or regrets; they must be +up and doing, even though their hearts fail them for very sorrow; yet +none save those who have suffered can know the utter desolation of +heart, crushing the very soul to the earth with despair, when the +father, 'the bread-winner,' is taken from their midst, and those who +are left know not where to look for help or guidance; and so this poor +widow sat by the fire-light, with her boy's hand clasped in hers, gazing +into the glowing embers as if trying to read the future therein. The +past had been very happy, for her girlhood was spent in a far different +sphere, but she had freely given up all for him who was now no more, and +had never repented of the sacrifice made; but, alas! he was gone, +leaving her alone, and her heart was like to break. And, musing thus, +she recalled the tones of the dear voice that had ever comforted her +when in sadness, now silent for ever!--the brave heart so firm of +purpose that had ceased to beat!--and as she thought of him who had been +so kind, so true, her courage gave way, and, burying her face in her +hands, she sobbed aloud, saying,-- + +'Oh, Davie, Davie! who will care for us now father is gone?' + +The child put his arms lovingly around her bowed head, as though it was +his place to be the comforter. + +'Mother darling, the Lord will care for us. He is the friend of the +widow and fatherless.' + +There was something in the boy's voice that struck the mother's ear, for +she removed her hands from before her face, and, drawing him nearer to +her, gazed earnestly into those clear blue eyes. + +Sudden sorrow often changes the entire nature of people, and the events +of the last few days had, as it were, transformed little Davie from a +mere child into a thoughtful boy. Like his namesake of old, 'he was of a +beautiful countenance,' and as he caressingly smoothed his mother's pale +cheeks with his soft, gentle hands, she felt she was not desolate, since +he was left to her. Long they sat in silence. At last the boy said,-- + +'Mother dear, Mat Morgan says that, as I am now ten years old, it is +time for me to begin work like the other lads about here.' + +'How, Davie?' she dreamily questioned, for her thoughts were wandering +far away, so that she scarcely heard what he said. + +'In the pit with him,' was the reply; 'he is so kind and good, I know he +will take great care of me.' + +'No, no!' she cried, clasping him yet closer to her; 'not in the cruel +mine that has robbed us of father!--no--not there!' + +'Nay, mother darling,' the boy gently urged; 'it was God who took father +home--and he was ready to go! Besides,' he continued, with all the +hopefulness of youth, 'I could earn some money every week, and only +think how useful that would be!' + +'But your poor father did not wish you to be a miner; he hoped you would +become a great and clever man,' the mother replied. + +He hesitated for a moment. Bright visions had filled his young head of +gaining riches and honours 'some day,' that glorious time of the young, +and he had thought how proud they both would be of him, and they should +neither of them work any more, but live in a lovely home of _his_ +providing, and never know care any more. And now!--he clenched his small +hands together, and choked back the big lump rising in his throat as +bravely he exclaimed,-- + +'And I will be a clever man, for I will learn at night when I come home, +and who knows what I may be one day. Mat Morgan says our manager was +only a poor collier lad once, and look at him now. Besides, they are all +so good to us here; they loved father dearly.' + +So the boy prevailed over her fears, and in a few days he took his place +by the side of his old friend Mat Morgan, who grew to love him as his +own child. But the mother's heart was grieved when at night her boy +returned with the fair golden hair rough and tangled, the once delicate +hands torn and hardening with toil; yet the child gave no thought to +that. True, this was not the life he would have chosen, for he was a +studious boy, but still, was he not 'the bread-winner'? and it was a +proudly happy day for him when he laid his first earnings in her lap, +and felt her tears upon his cheek as she kissed and blessed her boy. + +But the hour he loved the best was when, casting aside all care, he sat +on a low stool at her feet, and, with his head resting on her knee, +listened as she read aloud their evening chapter from the Book of Life; +he was then the child again, not the toiling little miner-lad!--and oh, +it was so peaceful! + +'"Consider the lilies of the field, they toil not, neither do they +spin,"' read the mother one evening. + +'But, mother, what are lilies like? I have never seen one, you know,' +asked the boy, when she had ceased reading and had closed the book. + +In simple language, she endeavoured to describe to her town-born child +the exquisite beauties of the flowers of the field, and he, with an +innate love of the beautiful, caught readily at all she said, and seemed +as though he saw them all as she depicted. + +'How I should love to be where there are always flowers!' he exclaimed; +'it must be like paradise! But those I have seen always close up at +night. I wish there was one here that opened of an evening, as if to +greet me when I come home!' + +I know not how it happened, but the next night, when little Davie +entered his home, a delicious perfume filled the air, and standing in +the cottage window was an Evening Primrose, with its petals fully +expanded. + +'Mother, mother,' cried the boy, 'my wish has come true! here is a +flower opening its blossoms to bid me welcome home;' and in excess of +delight he knelt and kissed his treasure again and again. And words +cannot express the love he bestowed upon the plant; it was to him an +unfeigned joy to watch the growing of each leaf, the gradual unfolding +of each fresh bud; and every night, on his return from work, his first +thought, after the thought for his mother, was of his sweet Evening +Primrose. + +Those who gather flowers at will, prize them for a while, then cast them +carelessly aside, can form no idea of the all-absorbing love the little +miner lad evinced for his one fair flower; it was his sole treasure, and +he ever watched and tended it lovingly and well. + +But time passed on, and it was Davie's last day in the coal-mine. He was +going to exchange that toilsome life, so uncongenial to his taste, but +which stern necessity had made him adopt, for a new and brighter +occupation, one, too, for which he had always ardently longed. The +manager of whom he had spoken to his mother had frequently noticed the +gentle, fair-haired boy; prosperity had not hardened _his_ heart (as it +so often does), and recollections of the long-ago flashed ever across +him, when he saw Davie bravely striving to do his best to help his +mother bear her burden of sorrowful poverty. He too had been a collier +lad in those far-off days, and 'the only son of _his_ mother, and she +was a widow.' The grass was green above that dear mother's grave, whose +latter years had been cheered and comforted by his tender, fostering +love; but his thoughts were of her, as, laying his hand upon the lad's +curly head, he kindly asked,-- + +'Would you like to leave the pit-work, David, and go into the engineers' +department?' + +'What! and become a great man like Stephenson and Brunel? Oh yes, sir!' +the boy joyfully exclaimed, for, like all youthful ambitions he vaulted +at once to the highest pinnacle of greatness--there is no midway for the +ardent young. + +The manager smiled at his enthusiasm, as he replied,-- + +'You can but try, my lad, to be as great and good as they were;' and he +added, 'You can enter upon your new work next week; there is a vacancy +for you.' + +'But, sir,'--and the boy paused,--'shall I earn wages like I do now? +because'-- + +And his voice failed him, he could not utter the thought of his +heart,--should he still be able to help his mother? + +The gentleman understood his hesitation, for he said kindly,-- + +'Yes, my little man, you will earn good wages, and, if you are only good +and steady like your poor father before you, I've no doubt but that you +may become a great man one day;' and he smiled encouragingly into the +boy's upturned face, a face which was beaming with hope and happiness. + +As to Davie, he raised his generous friend's hand to his lips, for he +could not speak for very gratitude; then, with his blue eyes sparkling +with joy, ran quickly home to tell the blissful news. + +'Mother, mother!' he cried, bursting in upon her as she sat at work; 'I +_shall_ become a great man now, and you shall ride in a carriage, and +never work any more;' and then, with his arms around her neck and his +curly head resting lovingly upon her shoulder, he poured forth his +bright hopes for the future. + + * * * * * + +So the last day came for working in the dark mine, and to-morrow--oh, +to-morrow! + +'But I'll miss ye, Davie,' Mat Morgan observed, as he and his little +friend trudged on side by side to work; 'ye be bright and cheery-like +down there,' pointing with his pipe towards the pit. 'And maybe ye'll +forget the missis and me when ye gets to be a great man, as ye says +ye'll be one day, and I makes no doubt but ye will be too. Ye be summat +like yer poor fayther, my lad; he were allers above we.' + +'Nay, Master Morgan!' cried the boy reproachfully; 'were you not my +first friend, when dear father died? You don't mean that, I know! +looking up at his old friend's rugged face with eyes full of tears. +Then, brushing them away with his jacket sleeve,--it was not manly to +cry, he thought,--he continued, 'No, when I am rich, you and Mrs. Morgan +shall both live in a big house with mother and me; we will ride in a +grand carriage, and be so happy all together, and never look at black +coals except to burn them.' + +The old miner smiled as he listened to the boy's bright day-dreams, yet +still he could not help feeling somewhat sad, for he dearly loved the +lad, and knew how much he should miss his merry chatter and song, which +so beguiled the time while they worked together down in the mine. + +But the time passed on much as on other days; when, just as they were +preparing to leave off work, and another gang was coming to relieve +them, a low, rumbling sound was heard. One or two of the men ran to the +entrance of the working, Mat Morgan among the number, and his face was +blanched when he returned to his comrades. + +'What is it, Master Morgan?' asked Davie, looking up at him with an +undefined dread. + +'My lad,' was his reply, and his voice was very calm, 'there has been a +landslip in the sidings, and we are shut in.' + +'But can we not get out?' he questioned. + +'No, never again, unless help comes,' he hoarsely whispered, for his +brave heart stood still at the terrible danger they were in. + +Indeed, no pen can express the terror that filled the hearts of these +brave and hardy men at the thought of being thus entombed in a living +grave; they quailed not when meeting death face to face, but shrank in +dread at the slowly advancing foe. + +All but the boy! + +The light from the flickering lamps the miners carried fell upon his +delicate features; but his eyes brightly gleamed, as, laying his hands +on the bowed head of his old friend, he softly said,-- + +'Master Morgan, let us not fear; our God is with us still!' + +'Maybe He has forgotten us, Davie,' the man pitifully moaned, for even +his strong courage had broken down in face of this calamity. + +'No, no,' soothed the boy. '"Yea, though I walk through the valley of +the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me:" is it +not so?' + +There was something so calm, so trustful in the child's faith in God's +mercy, that the poor stricken men listened as he tried to cheer them +with thoughts of that Power who is mighty to save. + +The weary hours dragged their slow length along, and, though help came +not yet, his perfect trust in God never wavered. Some of the men gave +themselves up to despair, and lay down where they had sat cowering, +prepared to die. The lamps went out by degrees as the oil was expended, +adding to the horror of the situation by leaving them in utter darkness. +And yet, though death appeared so near, it had no terrors for little +Davie, for God was nearer still. + +'Shall I sing to you, Master Morgan?' the boy asked, as he laid his +weary head down upon his friend's broad shoulder. + +'Ay, ay, my lad,' was the sole reply the poor man could make. + +Then through the awful silence and darkness of this fearful grave rang +the sweet, clear tones of the child's voice, singing-- + + + 'Rock of Ages, cleft for me, + Let me hide myself in Thee.' + + +'Hark!' he cried, suddenly pausing in the hymn; 'they are striving to +clear the working--I hear the sound of their picks! We are saved! we are +saved!' he joyously shouted. + +With the sense of hearing preternaturally sharpened, these poor men, who +had given themselves up for lost, also listened; those who had lain down +to die rising up and listening with every nerve acutely strained to +catch the faintest sound. Yes, they could hear their deliverers bravely +working to set them free. + +Then arose as with one voice their glad song of deliverance,-- + + + 'Thou canst save, and Thou alone!' + + + * * * * * + +Tenderly they bore him home to his mother, that brave, noble child, +whose simple trust had sustained their failing hearts in that hour of +trial and suffering. + +But reaction had set in, and he was weak and fainting when they laid him +in her arms, yet he feebly murmured, striving for her sake to appear +still strong,-- + +'Oh, mother darling, I am so glad to be at home again! I thought I +should never more see you, nor my Evening Primrose. But, mother, why is +it still so dark?' + +She glanced in terror at his soft blue eyes, which to her looked as +clear as ever. But why was it that, though the morning light was +streaming in through the open window, to him it still was dark? + +She breathed not one word of her fear to him, though the icy dread +chilled her to the heart, but, laying him gently down in his own cosy +bed, Soothed him with loving caresses, bidding him-- + +'Try to sleep, and forget it all!' + +Then, when sleep came to the over-wrought brain, she left him in the +care of a kindly neighbour, and went tremblingly forth to seek her +child's trusty old friend. + +She found Mat Morgan seated in his arm-chair (for, like the rest of the +miners who had been in this imminent peril, he had escaped unhurt), +recounting to a group of neighbours the wonderful faith of little Davie, +whose trust in God never failed, even when the shadows of the dark +angel's wings had hovered so closely over them. + +'Oh, Master Morgan!' the poor mother cried, as with clasped hands and +quivering lips she overheard him thus dilating on her boy's noble +fortitude and humble Christian faith; 'my darling Davie! he will never, +never look on us again this side the grave. He'-- + +'He be no dead, ma'am!' exclaimed the old man, starting from his chair, +while sympathizing friends gathered round her with words of tender pity. + +'No, no, not dead, thank God!' she sobbed; 'but blind, I fear. Oh, my +little boy, my Davie!' + +'Maybe not,' he replied, endeavouring to comfort her. 'I'll jest go wi' +ye. I've known sich things afore, when men have been shut up in the dark +some hours,--and _we_ were nigh upon three days in the pit, mind ye--the +shock of seein' the daylight kind o' dazes the sight for a while. So ye +must not greet, but hope and trust in our heavenly Father, as your +little lad ever does, I'm thinkin'! Come along.' + +How eagerly did she hasten home, all anxiety to prove if the old miner's +opinion was right, and 'hoping against hope' that the child's sight had +become cleared while he slept, and that when he awoke he would look upon +her with unclouded eyes. Her heart beat so violently she could scarcely +speak, as, standing by his bedside, she saw his blue eyes were unclosed +and apparently gazing upon her where she stood with Mat Morgan by her +side. + +'Davie,' she whispered softly, bending over him and kissing the parted +lips, 'here is Master Morgan come to see you.' + +'Where is he?' the boy joyfully cried. 'He is not hurt, then? Oh, I am +so glad! But, mother dear, I cannot see him, nor you; there seems like a +shadow over my eyes. Oh, mother,' he piteously moaned, as the sad truth +appeared to strike him, 'tell me, I am not blind, am I?' + +Then, as she could not for very anguish reply to his eager question, his +noble courage gave way, and, throwing himself upon his pillow, he +uttered a piercing cry of untold despair. + +The poor mother knelt beside him with arms closely folding him to her +heart, unable to soothe, save with loving caresses, her child's +unutterable anguish. + +'Nay, Davie, my man,' cried the old miner, wiping his eyes with the back +of his rough hand, 'ye did no greet when death a'most stared us in the +face; why do ye sorrow now, my brave lad?' + +'Oh, but then I should have been with God! Now'--and his sobs +redoubled--'I shall never see mother's dear face again, nor yours, +Master Morgan; and for me my Evening Primrose will never open its buds +again. And oh, if I am blind, I can never more be mother's little +bread-winner.' + + * * * * * + +The parable is told! + +Little Davie eventually recovered his sight, thanks to the generous +kindness of the manager, who spared no means to procure the best +surgical aid for the poor little lad; and in the years that quickly +followed, he became the stay and comfort of his widowed mother, +retaining ever his filial affection for her, and cherishing fond +recollections of those early days when his only treasures were her love +and his Evening Primrose. + + + + +PARABLE FIFTH. + +THE LITTLE SEED--KINDNESS. + + +'Why, what have you got in your beak?' asked a dingy London Sparrow of +another, just as dingy as himself. + +'Well, I hardly know,' replied his friend, laying down the article in +question, and surveying it critically with his head on one side; 'but it +seems to me as though it is a seed--of some sort!' + +'So it is,' assented the other, as he hopped nearer and attentively +examined the treasure-trove. 'Yes,'--as if the idea had suddenly +suggested itself,--'yes, it _is_ a seed. Where did you find it?' + +'I did not steal it,' exclaimed the owner of the property, who evidently +resented a something in his companion's manner of questioning; 'I +honestly picked it up in a garden, where it was lying on the _top_ of +the earth, not _in_ it,' he added, with emphasis. 'I expect the wind +blew it there, for the gales have been very high these last few days.' + +'Yes, yes,' replied the questioner with alacrity; perhaps he feared he +had wounded his friend's feelings, and dreaded lest there might ensue a +squabble, for sparrows, it must be confessed, are easily affronted over +trifles, though, as a rule, they are good-tempered little fellows +enough, putting up with scanty fare and homely lodgings very contentedly +and cheerfully. 'I wonder what kind of seed it is, do you know?' he +still further questioned, being of an inquisitive turn of mind. + +'No, I do not,' replied the finder. + +'Ah,' he said, with a sigh that ruffled all his feathers, 'if we did but +live in the beautiful green hedgerows, instead of dwelling among town +chimneys, we should soon know what it was; our country cousins would be +able to tell us in a moment if it was good to eat or not. By the bye, +shall you eat it?' he pursued, eyeing his friend in the same keen way as +he eyed occasional crumbs of bread, his sharp little eye glancing quick +and bright whilst waiting for the reply. + +'No,' answered the other; 'I shall give it away.' + +'Give it away!' he repeated, in utter astonishment at the idea; 'who +to?' + +'Why, in my travels about this city, I have noticed a small window up +among the chimneys in the East End of London--it's a mere garret, I +expect.' + +'Well?' ejaculated the listener, somewhat impatiently. + +'I have also observed,' pursued his companion deliberately, 'that on the +ledge of this window there are two or three flower-pots with some tiny +pieces of green trying to shoot out of the dry mould.' + +'What have those flower-pots and the dry mould to do with this seed?' +was the question he sharply put. + +'I think,' continued the other Sparrow, not heeding the interruption, +'this must be a flower-seed, since I found it in a garden well known to +me for its loveliness,--for, as a rule, I go about with my eyes open,' +he added. 'Now at this attic window of which I spoke,' he went on +saying, 'I have seen a poor pale-faced girl for ever bending over +needlework, although sometimes, but very rarely, I have observed her +carefully watering and tending those flower-pots with their feeble +attempts at greenery.' + +'Have you nearly finished your touching description?' asked the friend, +with a sneer. + +'Now,' went on the Sparrow, as though he had not heard this remark, 'the +soil does not look very inviting, yet I have been thinking that, as +there has been rain during the night, the mould may be a little softened +perhaps; so if I alight on the window-sill, and drop this seed into one +of those pots, a pretty flower _might_ come up in time, and then how +glad the poor girl would be!--why, it would actually give her +happiness.' + +And the reflection merely of this hoped-for pleasure so brightened up +the little bird that he looked positively lovely! Not even a bird of +paradise could have appeared more glorious, dingy brown though our tiny +hero's plumage was; but good deeds and kind words always bring a +brightness with them. + +'Oh, that is what you intend doing!' remarked the other, who had been +pruning his flecked feathers whilst listening to this delightful +plan;--perhaps he might have imagined the treasure would come to him, +since his friend was not going to keep it himself. 'You are very +generous,' he added, with a slight touch of sarcasm. + +But the kind little Sparrow did not mind; his heart was too full of +noble intentions to notice trivial things. He merely said,-- + +'So now I'm off! Good-bye for the present. I shall be back in time for +roost.' + +'Oh, you are going, are you?' was the comment, as his friend picked up +the seed again in his beak and flew away. + +But, as he darted off, a sunbeam peeped round a corner just to see what +the dear little fellow looked like, and this very sunbeam threw such a +halo around him, you would have thought his feathers had been burnished +gold. Then his voice, too, sounded so cheerily, as, with a merry +'Twit-twit-twee,' he disappeared from view, intent on his errand of +kindness. + +'I'm sure I should not have troubled myself to carry that burden so far, +but should have eaten it for my dinner,' muttered the one sitting on the +water-spout. 'Dear me, what's that?' as he caught sight of a shadow +round an angle of the roof. 'Oh, gracious!' and he gave such a jump in +his terror, as he recognised Pussie taking a walk on the tiles, looking +out for her dinner, no doubt. + +You may be quite sure Mr. Sparrow did not wait until Pussie came up to +him, but flew away to a safe distance. + +Meanwhile the other bird was speeding on his errand of kindness. He did +not feel the weight of his burden, but went bravely on, only +occasionally resting on a water-spout or a parapet, just for a second or +two, but never losing sight of his precious seed; though sometimes he +was sadly annoyed by other Sparrows coming up, and, with great fuss and +chatter, inquiring as to what he was so carefully carrying. But he was +very cautious, and always kept an eye upon his treasure (answering their +questions curtly), for London Sparrows have the character of being not +_too_ honest, with what truth it cannot be said; let us hope the charge +is unfounded. Still our hero thought it advisable to be watchful; +therefore, after satisfying all curiosity on the subject, as much at +least as he deemed needful, he flew off again on his mission--without +telling them the ultimate destination of his seed, fearing, perhaps, +they might be unable to resist the temptation of picking it out of the +mould into which he intended to drop it. + +By and by he left the more respectable part of the city, and winged his +way as near as he could remember towards the attic window, where he had +so often seen the poor work-girl busy at her weary task. But a heavy +cloud of smoke darkened the air, and a perfect forest of masts +bewildered him, for he had come to that part of London where the ships +are to be seen--thousands of vessels from all countries of the world. +Still, though he was puzzled for a while, yet he felt sure the house was +near this place, as he recollected having seen these docks before. What +should he do? He paused for a bit upon a slanting roof just to look +around. Oh, the smuts, how they settled upon his feathers! he was +obliged to preen himself, he felt so dirty; if his coat was a dingy +brown, there was no occasion for its being dirty also! All at once, as +he paused during the process of preening, he saw the very window right +in front of him,--he recognised it by its cleanliness, such a contrast +to the squalor around. Yes, there it was, the polished panes of glass +glinting in the gleams of light that came now and then through the +murky atmosphere; and there were the three flower-pots. Why, actually +they had been washed, they looked so freshly red!--or perhaps painted. + +Away he joyfully flew, his task was nearly done; but alas for hopes of +birds or people! Just as he was about to alight upon the window-sill, a +tiresome bird--a Sparrow--came flying towards him, exclaiming,-- + +'Hallo! who are you, I should like to know?' and so startled was he when +accosted thus abruptly, that in his fright he dropped his dear and +precious treasure. + +Down, down it fell upon a deal case a man was wheeling on a truck. The +man did not notice the tiny grain that fell; perhaps, had he done so, +would merely have thought it was a particle of dust; but the poor bird's +heart was sorely grieved as he saw it disappear, after all the trouble +he had taken to bring it thus far, and he sat upon the window-ledge of +the girl's room with ruffled plumage and dim eyes, utterly crushed by +this untoward loss. It was too bad! + +But after a while he took heart, and looked the disappointment boldly in +the face, which is always the better plan than brooding over it. + +'It can't be helped,' he said wisely, rousing from his sorrowful +reflections, and giving his feathers a shake together. 'I did my best, +and could do no more. It is a loss certainly, but no doubt there are +other flower-seeds to be found, so I'll go to-morrow morning to that +same garden, and see if there are any more to be had. Dear me!' he +continued, glancing up with his now bright eyes at the sky; 'why, it is +getting late. I must make haste home, or else my friends will be +anxious, and fear that I have come to grief.' + +So saying, he flew away, not without a note of farewell to the girl, who +had been looking at him all the time he sat there so disconsolately, +wondering in her own mind why he was perched there so ruffled and sad, +little dreaming of his kindly intentions towards her--how should +she?--so away he went, and reached his place of abode just as his +brothers and friends were going to roost. + +You may be quite sure he was received with a perfect volley of +questions. + +'Where have you been?' asked some who were ignorant of his scheme. + +'How did you manage?' questioned others who knew. + +'What sort of a place is it?' inquired several. + +Poor little bird! he was obliged to confess his failure, which he did +with reluctance; yet still he bore his disappointment so cheerfully and +bravely, they could not help sympathizing with him, promising to help in +the good work next time. Even the Sparrow who had jeered somewhat at him +was really sorry, and consoled him so kindly, that he went to sleep with +his head tucked under his wing, in a far happier frame of mind than he +could have supposed possible, after such a grievous sorrow. + +And the seed? + +As it was being jostled on the top of the packing-case, it thought to +itself: + +'There's an end to me, I suppose. I shall be shrivelled up to nothing +for want of nourishing earth, and shall do good to no one. What a pity +that dear little Sparrow's kind intention was frustrated by that +meddlesome and inquisitive bird! I am sure I would have done my duty to +the utmost, and realized his wish by growing as fast as possible, and +looking cheerful and gay when in flower. Well, well, it is no use being +unhappy; I must only wait patiently, hoping that a chance of doing good +may occur. Who knows what may happen?' + +And at that very moment, the truck the man was wheeling gave a lurch, +and in consequence the tiny seed rolled along until it slipped down a +crevice in the lid, and found a comfortable resting-place inside amongst +some soft hay with which the case was packed. + +'This is cosy,' it remarked, nestling in the warmth; 'perhaps after all +I am reserved for some good purpose. I had become desponding, but there +is always a brightness behind the darkest cloud.' + +So it cuddled down contentedly, not knowing or heeding whither it was +taken, only resting satisfied with the reflection that whatever happened +was for the best. And so the packing-case was put on board one of the +great ships in the docks, and in a few days away sailed the ship, +packing-case, and little seed, far over the ocean, leaving England many +thousand miles behind. + +Not having been to Australia, we cannot describe what the little seed +next beheld. But when the sun once again shone upon it, it was in a very +different country to this dear land of ours. + +The case had been emptied of its contents, and the hay and straw with +which it had been packed was thrown aside upon the ground, and there lay +the seed, so tiny that it was quite unheeded, indeed it is to be doubted +whether it was even seen; but the loving God, who has created nothing in +vain, had still a use for the small grain. A soft wind came and carried +it to some moist earth, into which it sank, thankful for the rest and +quiet after the past turmoil. + +But its work was not finished. + +By and by came up a little slender green shoot, then a leaf or two, and +after a while, in due season, some pretty bell-shaped flowers, almost +white, with just a tinge of delicate purple, made their appearance, and +there they swayed in the breeze--English Wood Anemones in a distant +land. + +And in this distant land a young English girl had her home; and bright +and beautiful it was, with huge trees and gorgeous flowers, unheard of +and unseen in the country village from which she had come. But, bright +and beautiful as her new home was, she often sighed for the green +hedgerows and sweet wayside flowers of dear old England; not that she +murmured because God had sent her thither, only the love of her old home +and old home memories yet lingered in her heart. + +Think, then, what her joy was, when, one day as she wandered alone, +gazing on gorgeous blossoms rich in brilliant colours, down at her feet +she spied, waving its delicate-tinted elf-bells in the warm, soft +breeze, the Wood Anemone. + +Could it be possible? That well-known English flower blooming there! How +could it have come across the ocean? + +Ah, how often had she seen it at home--for England is ever home to those +who are far away--seen it in the early spring days clustering thickly in +the woods and copse, heralding the cuckoo, and bringing with it a +promise of summer days to come. + +'Dear, dear little flower!' she cried, kneeling down and kissing, in +excess of joy, its delicate petals. 'Welcome a thousand times, for you +bring with you memories from the old land. I will not gather your +pretty flowers, nor take them away to myself, but will leave you here, +so that others, perhaps more home-sick than I, will take heart, and be +cheered by your soothing though silent message.' + +And the young girl was right. + +Others passing by--some poor wanderers, footsore and weary--were cheered +by the bonnie wild-flower, which, happy in giving happiness to others, +swayed its tiny bells as it danced in utter gladness, whispering to the +wild bees who also came to visit it,-- + +'I thought at one time, when the Sparrow let me fall, that there was no +more use for me in the world, that my work was finished; but God had +still a mission for me, and I have done what others equally small can +do--given happiness, and cheered those who came across my path. It is +not much to do,' it continued meekly, 'not great and glorious deeds at +which the world stands amazed; but it was all I could do, and was the +work He meant for me--we must not despise the day of small things. The +acorn is very small, yet look at the oak. A gentle word, a bright +smile, is not hard to bestow, but oh, the blessing they can be to hearts +pining perhaps for kindness!' + + * * * * * + +So the Sparrow's good intention was carried out after all. + + + + +PARABLE SIXTH. + +THE CROWN IMPERIAL--HOPE. + + +Have you ever seen a Crown Imperial, that lovely flower which comes in +the early spring-time, just after the Snowdrops have gone? You will not +find it in _new_ gardens, I fear; but in those delightful shady nooks +and corners where the old-fashioned flowers seem to come and go just as +they please, there it is to be found, coming up year after year in all +its beauty, and yet, though so lovely, meekly drooping its velvet +petals, upon which tear-drops are ever resting. + +It has been said that it droops thus in humiliation, because its pride +was once rebuked; but I do not think that aught so lovely could be +unduly proud! Even the acknowledged queen of the garden, the stately +Rose, is gentle in her beauty; and 'Consider the lilies,' though +'Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed' like them, yet how meekly +they bloom beneath our feet! + +Then shall the Crown Imperial tell its tale to you, and see what lesson +we can learn from it? No, an old yew tree shall relate the story. Listen +to what it says:-- + +'Many, many years have I stood on this spot, from the time that I was a +tiny sapling until now, when my branches spread far and wide, covering +the earth beneath with shadow. Summer sunshine has touched with its +fiercely scorching breath, and winter snows have shrouded me in fleecy +garments, but the old yew tree has weathered so far the storms of life, +growing year by year more twisted and gnarled as time passed on. I have +seen the song-birds come and depart; some have even built their nests +within my leafy branches. I have watched sweet flowers blossom, then +fade, but among the many lovely flowerets I have loved--for the old dry +tree has a tender heart, my children--there was one whose very +gentleness made me love it even yet more dearly. It was a Crown +Imperial. + +'The spring was commencing to gladden the earth when first I perceived +it, forcing its way timidly through the soft grassy lawn of an old, old +garden. Who had placed the parent bulb beneath that turf was never +known, for the owners of the estate had passed with their generation +from the land, and strangers had come to reside in the ancient +homestead, but there was this fragile plant, outliving, as it were, +those who had planted it, and coming up, year after year, to gladden +other eyes than those which had first beheld its beauty--like good +actions and gentle words--imperishable! + +'So day by day I watched it grow, stronger and stronger, higher and +higher, and, as it grew, spreading gradually its beautiful, shining +leaves; but when it had reached its full height, behold, it was crowned +with a diadem of the softest green--an emerald crown worthy the brow of +a queen! + +'Then by degrees I saw its blossoms begin to unfold, the velvet petals +richer far than the feeble looms of man can weave; but, as they +unclosed, to my intense surprise, they were not uplifted to the +sunshine and blue sky, but meekly bowed--drooping earthward. + +'"They will gaze upward by and by," I said to myself, "and, when they +know and feel the power of their beauty, will court the admiration they +are sure to win." + +'But I was wrong. + +'Pride had no place within their lowly hearts--never were their flowers +lifted up--their glances were ever bent in sweet humility towards the +green sod from which they had sprung, and, as I gazed upon them, I saw +that on each lovely petal there ever rested a tear. + +'"Why this sadness?" I mused. "Surely so lovely and guileless a flower +can know no sorrow, since sorrow often goes hand in hand with sin; this +Crown Imperial must surely be as faultless as it is beautiful!" + +'Yet I hesitated to ask the reason; there was a gentle and reserved +timidity about it, that checked all questionings. The cause of this +unspoken grief would be revealed to me sooner or later, I felt +convinced. + +'The days passed on with sunshine and shadows, and, as the hours fled, I +saw with regret that stern Time had relentlessly breathed with his +withering breath upon my much-loved flower! Gradually and slowly its +blossoms pined, the lovely colours faded,--almost imperceptibly, 'tis +true, still they faded,--its fresh green crown became less purely +bright, and I knew with anguish my sweet one was dying. + +'Then, and not till then, did it raise its faint eyes heavenward--they +were tearless now. I could restrain my wonder no more. + +'"Why, oh, why wert thou weeping and gazing ever earthward when in thy +peerless beauty, sad and disconsolate--and now that thou art fading from +us thou art happy?" I asked in my sorrowful regret; perhaps reproach was +mingled with my complaint. + +'"Is it not ever so?" the gentle flower replied. "Whilst burdened with +Life's sorrows, our eyes are tear-dimmed. The cares of this world press +heavily upon our hearts, so that we scarce can lift our thoughts from +this earth--cold and weary though it is--to gaze upward. It is only when +we are passing from all shadows into the Divine Light that we can look +heavenward, yet even then the tear-drops linger. But when earthly +sojourners have passed through the dark valley into the Eternal +Brightness, then, and only then, will they be freed from anguish; then, +and only then, will eyes be no longer dimmed by sorrow--for God Himself +shall wipe away all tears!"' + + + + +PARABLE SEVENTH. + +THE TWO LEAVES--DISCONTENT. + + +Once upon a time, as the good old fairy tales always begin, there grew +by the side of a little brook a large Oak tree. + +The brook was a bright, sunlit stream, gliding along so cheerfully to +join the river, between grassy banks, kissing the willows which bent +down towards it, or whispering softly to the blue Forget-me-nots; and so +clear was it, you could see the smooth pebbles lying at the bottom, and +the fish skimming along gaily, as if there were no such things in the +whole world as fishing-rods. + +All through the day it rippled merrily, catching every ray of sunlight +that flickered through the trees or the blue sky above; but if an angry +black cloud ever chanced to see itself reflected in its clear mirror, +it scudded away as if ashamed of looking so dark. + +But at night, when the holy stars were shining, ah, how softly the +little brook murmured to them! you could almost fancy it did not babble +so loudly as in the day-time, for fear lest it should wake the sleeping +flowers on its mossy banks. + +It was a happy little stream, so calm, so placid, no angry ripples ever +disturbed its pure surface, over which the Swallows lightly skimmed. And +it meandered along for many miles; sometimes you would lose sight of it +altogether, then out it would come from some quiet, grassy nook, gaily +sparkling, and glide with a merry sound, as if laughing, towards the +steady rushes, and they would sway to and fro at its approach, dancing +to its rippling music. + +But, as I was saying, a sturdy Oak grew by the side of the brook; it had +sprung from an acorn many hundred years ago, now it was very old. Wintry +storms had vainly tried to subdue it; many a time they had bent its +branches, plucked at its roots, but fruitless was their fury, for the +noble tree firmly held its place, rearing its proud head more loftily +than ever; and so the storms, finding their power availed them nought, +passed away over the land, howling with rage at their failure. + +Then, oh, how the birds loved the clear old tree! Summer after summer +did they return to build nests among its moss-grown branches; and the +branches, glad that the songsters had come back again, would put forth +green leaves to hide them from prying eyes, so that they could rest +there securely. Can you wonder, then, that they sang sweet songs of +gratitude to it, and that the little brook should murmur her sweet +melody as she glided along at its feet? + +On the opposite bank grew an Aspen. + +It was not so old as the Oak, who had seen it grow up from a mere +sapling; still they had been neighbours for many years, and the graceful +Aspen looked with love and reverence upon her aged friend's sturdy face +and form. Often, in the calm summer nights, the Oak would talk to her of +the days of the long-ago; you would have thought it was merely the +breeze sighing amidst the branches, but it was the voice of the Oak +telling of the past. + +Many of the birds imagined the Aspen to be a weak, trembling tree, +quivering always with fear at the slightest wind that ruffled its +branches. + +'Scarcely safe to build a nest in!' so said an old motherly Rook, who +had reared many a brood. + +But the fairies who danced beneath its shade on bright moonlight nights +knew better; they knew that the fragile-_looking_ tree never trembled +with fear; they had often seen it meekly bend beneath the sway of the +fierce wintry blasts, knowing full well whose hand guided the storm; and +when the summer came they knew that then it quivered with happiness at +being created on so fair an earth, and that its leaves only shook with +quiet laughter as it listened to the merry chatter of the brook. + +Well--winter had passed with his frosts and snows, and spring was +scattering her flowers everywhere. The Cuckoo was calling aloud, +'Cuckoo, cuckoo,' all day long, never heeding the young folks who mocked +his song; even the Swallows had returned from the warm, sunny South, and +were for ever skimming over the brook, just dipping their wings into its +limpid waves, then off again with the joyous 'Twit, twit, twit.' The +meadows, too, were yellow with buttercups, in which the cows waded +knee-deep. Talk of the Field of the Cloth of Gold! Francis the First +would have been a clever man could he have made such an one!--no earthly +king could create golden fields like these. + +All nature was rejoicing in earth's brightness, and our old friends the +Oak and the Aspen as much as any. They had put forth their fresh green +leaves, and beneath their shade many a tired traveller rested from the +noonday sun, thanking them both in his heart for the welcome shelter. + +During the winter the Oak had not been idle, for it had extended its +branches far and wide; one, indeed, stretched right across the brook, in +fact, almost touched its opposite neighbour, and the Aspen welcomed it +gladly. You would have thought it great happiness to live in such a +lovely spot, I know, but there is never perfect bliss, and if little +folks _will_ be discontented, they make the prettiest place appear +wretched and miserable. + +Now, among the leaves of the Oak there was one that was always restless +and fidgety. In vain the sweet birds perched near and sang to him, and +the gentle brook murmured tales of other scenes--he never seemed happy. +The fairies, too, as I before said, danced by moonlight at the very +foot of the parent tree, yet even that brave sight gave him no pleasure, +though his brother and sister leaves would clap their tiny hands in +ecstasy. + +'It disturbed his sleep,' he said. 'Why could they not dance in the +day-time?--not when all respectable leaves and flowers were sleeping! +making such a noise, especially that mischievous Puck!' + +And, unfortunately, he grew on the branch nearest to the Aspen, and his +constant grumbles made them quiver with sorrow and pain at such +incessant complainings. As to his own relatives, they would not listen, +but frisked about merrily enough when the zephyrs came and played with +them. + +'Alas!' said he one day to a little Aspen leaf that grew on a branch +close by, and who had patiently borne with his ungrateful complaints; +'how sad is our lot! Here we are always attached to the same place, in a +state of cruel bondage; everything around us moves: the birds, happy in +their liberty, fly here and there, singing ever their songs of joy; even +the beasts of the forests are free--whilst we--ah me!--we never lose +our galling chains but in dying!' + +'Why do you murmur thus?' asked the Aspen leaf in a sweet, tremulous +voice; 'why are you not contented?' + +'Oh, it is all very well for you to preach contentment,' it pertly +replied, turning up its point with contempt. 'I am a leaf of intellect. +I hate this aimless, monotonous life; it does very well for such silly, +trembling things as you and yours,--not for me!' + +For a moment the little Aspen leaf felt its pride wounded by the +contemptuous speech of its neighbour, and was strongly disposed to +answer in the same strain; but fortunately, a fairy who chanced to be +passing at the time laid her silver wand lightly on its lips, so with a +smile she merely said,-- + +'Yes, I know I am timid, and cling to my parent tree for security and +protection. What would you do if you were free? We are so happy here, I +would not leave my home; the soft breezes are ever among us with +cheerful stories of the countries they have visited to amuse us; and as +to the birds, why, all the day long they are singing their sweetest +melodies to gladden our hearts and cheer us.' + +'I have heard their songs until I am quite tired of their sameness,' was +the ungrateful response; 'besides, in a few months the cold winds will +be here, and then we shall fall to the ground and be trodden under +foot--that will be the end of us. So I am determined to see something of +the world before that time comes. I shall go off with the first north +wind that visits us--so I tell you. You will not reason me out of my +plan.' + +'Oh, stay, stay with us!' cried the trembling listener; 'you cannot +surely know the sorrow you would cause, nor the troubles you would have +to endure. It is true we leave our kind branches but to die, but we are +not carelessly trodden on; the rustling of we poor faded leaves beneath +man's feet recall to his mind pure and holy thoughts of the unknown +future, filling his heart with unuttered prayers to the Great Power who +changeth not. Then, if we poor leaves can teach a lesson, we have not +lived in vain. Do not murmur at your humble fate, dear friend, but stay +with us, contented with your simple destiny and the goodness of God.' + +The Aspen leaf ceased speaking, overcome by its emotion, whilst the +little grumbler, silenced, but not convinced, turned sulkily away. It +did not relish the kind advice of its true friend, nor did it at all +intend to follow it, but still it settled down on its tiny twig so very +quietly, that all its relatives firmly believed it had given up its +foolish scheme of imaginary happy freedom; but they were mistaken, for a +few days after a north wind came quite unexpectedly upon them. It bent +the Aspen tree almost to breaking, still the loving little leaves clung +trembling to their parent, feeling that their very safety rested on +their keeping close to it. Then, finding its strength was in vain, away +the north wind rushed to the sturdy old Oak, swaying its branches wildly +about, and even making them crack in its fierce rage. + +But the Oak reared its proud head defiantly, and its leaves hung tightly +on--all save one. Alas! with a mocking laugh at his friends' and his +brothers' fears, he threw himself into the arms of the cruel north wind, +who bore him swiftly away, and ere the night came the foolish leaf lay +faded and dead. + +As he was whirled away, a sad, sad moan sighed through the branches of +the old Oak. 'Twas a cry of anguish for its wilful child. + + * * * * * + +The bright summer was gone. + +One by one the leaves were falling. With a gentle rustle they fell from +their parent trees, and lay in their faded beauty upon the earth. + +The little Aspen leaf lingered, but one day a soft, sweet zephyr came +and gently released her, and she fluttered slowly down to the calm bosom +of the little brook, who had, alas! seen many flowers bloom and die. + +Tenderly the stream bore it away to a grassy nook on its banks, and +there it placed the tiny leaf, alone in its quiet rest. + + + + +PARABLE EIGHTH. + +THE AMBITIOUS WILD-FLOWER--AMBITION. + + + 'Who'll buy my roses? they're lovely and fair, + They're Nature's own bloom, and are fed on fresh air.' + + +So sang a little girl, as she walked along a shady lane, carrying a +basket of those glorious flowers which she was taking to a friend as a +birthday gift; and so on she went, singing her song of Roses, sweet +Roses, little thinking that others were listening to her melody (besides +the birds), or that her simple words would raise angry feelings in the +very flowers themselves. + +'Oh yes!' exclaimed a small Wild-flower--its name I will not tell; 'oh +yes!' she repeated, waiting until the singer was out of hearing; 'always +Roses, or Violets, or Lilies--no one ever composes songs about--_us_--we +are only common flowers.' + +'Don't say so,' interposed Pimpernel, 'because that is not true. There +is a poem on a Daisy that will ever be remembered, and I have heard some +children sing a pretty one about Buttercups and Daisies, besides.' + +'Oh, of course you uphold these song-makers, because your name has +appeared in print,' she interrupted, with a toss of her bonnie petals; +'but no one has ever noticed me.' + +'Nonsense!' said Ragged Robin, who, having been of a wandering +disposition, had seen and heard a great deal in his time; 'why, there is +one poet who says,-- + + + "Full many a flower is born to blush unseen, + And waste its fragrance on the desert air." + + +Therefore, if you are not mentioned by name, you certainly must be +included among these unknowns who are born to blush unseen.' + +'I don't want to be included among these "unknowns" then,' exclaimed the +Flower angrily. 'I am sure I am'--she hesitated a moment--'quite as +lovely as a Rose, or any other garden beauty;' but she could not help +hanging her head for very shame whilst uttering this piece of +self-conceit. + +'Oh! oh! oh!' were the exclamations to be heard on all sides. + +'So I am,' she persisted, going on now in sheer desperation, having +proceeded too far to retract. 'My petals are delicately fair, with just +a faint rosy blush, my pistils and stamens of a tender yellow, and my +form, if fragile, is very graceful--so there!' + +You may imagine the laughter that ensued as she ended with that emphatic +'so there!' laughter which could not be suppressed, although she plainly +showed her anger at their behaviour; they could not help it, so +flower-bells shook and leaves fluttered with mirth, even Quaker grass +quivered with merriment. + +'I would advise you to be more contented,' said a Honeysuckle, as she +looked down upon the ambitious little Flower from her own elevated +position; 'let me tell you it is not always those who are highest up in +the world are the happiest; they feel the cold winds quite as keenly, +perhaps more so.' + +'Ah, but I want to live in a conservatory or a greenhouse. I feel I am +fitted for that position,' grumbled the other; 'in such a place I +should be more seen, and consequently more admired and appreciated.' + +'What vanity!' sneered wild Vetch, who was somewhat ambitious also, +seeing he tried to climb up as high as he could. + +An angry retort was on the lips of the one addressed, but Honeysuckle +interposed, by saying kindly,-- + +'Well, well, we shall see,--perhaps your position may be altered one +day, and then you will be able to show us how you bear prosperity. Many +flowers I have known transplanted to conservatories, thinking they would +prove to be exotics, but I have heard that they generally withered in +the heated atmosphere to which they were removed, and did not come to +perfection when taken from their native soil.' + +'I am sure I should enjoy the change,' was the answer vouchsafed to this +friendly warning. 'I know I am not in my proper sphere; such beauty as +mine was never surely intended by Nature for a hedgerow.' + +'We shall see!' cried several Blossoms, who felt indignant at her +contemptuous way of speaking. 'Your parents were no doubt'-- + +'Exotics, I am convinced,' she said. + +'Then how came you here among such humble company?' asked merry Ragged +Robin, who was fond of teasing. + +She deigned no reply, but looked him scornfully up and down, to his +intense amusement. + +'Let her alone!' cried a sturdy Bramble; 'she will buy her experience +with sighs and tears, I fear.' + +So, acting upon Bramble's advice, they did leave her alone to muse over +her ambitious hopes and desires, whilst they, contented and happy with +their lowly fate, opened their buds to the bright sunshine, which beams +alike upon the high or humble. + +And very pretty looked that hedgerow on this same morning. The flowers +were so lovely and fresh, for their gentle Mother Nature had washed +their bonnie faces fresh with dew, and so they held their petals up to +catch the sun's brightest rays, which came in golden gleams through the +thickly-leaved hedges above them. What life could possibly be happier? +There were the birds flying about, cheering them with merry twitterings, +as they sped from tree to tree, or perched in the boughs overhead, +warbling ever their songs of gladness. Then the bees would come, and +ask them, in drowsy, murmuring voices, for just a sip of nectar from +their cups, a boon which was never refused, and in return the busy +little workers would leave them some pollen to colour their petals, and +render them (if it were possible) more lovely than before. The +butterflies, too, would alight on their leaves, and display their +brilliant hues for their admiration, or the gay dragon-flies would fly +about them in that wandering fashion peculiar to those gorgeous insects, +darting hither and thither like flashes of rainbow light. At night the +moonlight would kiss their weary eyes to sleep, whilst the soft +night-breezes soothed them to rest with murmuring lullabies. + +It is true there were storms sometimes, and the cold rain would fall +upon them; but still they were sheltered from all fierce tempests, and +would rise up refreshed after the dark clouds had passed away, for they +knew + + + 'Behind the clouds the sun's still shining. + * * * * * + Into each life some rain must fall, + Some days must be dark and dreary;' + + +and as to the summer showers, why, they tossed their heads, and laughed +merrily at them, shaking the light rain-drops from their petals in +playful fun. + +But on this morning, when the tiny Wild-flower was making her life +miserable by useless repinings at her humble lot, and sighing for--she +knew not what!--well, on this same morning there was not a cloud to dim +the sky, so brightly blue was it, and the soft west wind crept among the +leaves and flowers, whispering to them the glad tidings of 'Summer is +come!' + +I do not know how long it was after the little girl had passed, that a +gentleman came sauntering slowly up the lane; and as he went, he would +stop every now and then to examine the hedgerow flowers and shrubs. All +at once he espied our friend, almost hidden though she was by the leaves +and long grass around. + +'What a lovely little flower!' he exclaimed, as he stooped down to +examine more closely his newly-found treasure; 'how delicate in colour, +how sweet in perfume! Surely this was never intended to remain hidden in +a hedge?' + +Oh, if you could but have seen how she tried to raise her pretty head, +which Nature had bowed in simple loveliness, and endeavoured to look +big, little thinking that her greatest charm lay in this sweet +simplicity. + +'I must certainly transplant it to my greenhouse,' he went on saying. +'With care and skill, who knows into what it may not develop!--an +entirely new plant, I doubt not. I will at once take it home.' + +And away he went to procure the necessary tools for removing her from +her lowly home to one more suited to her wishes. + +'Did I not tell you so!' was her delighted exclamation. + +'Well, I never!' ejaculated Pimpernel, whose pretty eyes were now opened +wide in astonishment. + +'Better to be born lucky than rich,' muttered Ragged Robin. + +'Shall I not be grand in a conservatory?' cried the ambitious Flower. + +'I would rather + + + "Adorn the rustic stibble-field, + Unseen, alane,"' + + +murmured meek Daisy. + +'Ah, you have no ambition!' sneered the other; 'besides, "the rustic +stibble-field" is your proper sphere--it is not mine!' + +'Pride, pride!' rebuked Honeysuckle, gazing sorrowfully down upon the +arrogant little speaker. 'Take care that you sigh not yet for your old +home and humble friends.' + +'Indeed I shall not!' she retorted insolently. + +'Wait, wait!' continued sturdy Bramble; ''tis the time of flowers +now--wait till the fruit-time comes.' + +'I do not know what you mean,' she retorted angrily; 'nor do I'-- + +'That there is a time for all things,' explained Shepherd's Clock, +interrupting her. + +'I trust your high hopes will be realized,' said Speedwell kindly. + +How much longer this wrangling would have continued it is impossible to +say, for at that moment the gentleman returned with a trowel, spade, and +basket, and proceeded to remove her from her native soil. In justice to +her, it must be confessed that, when the moment came to part for ever +from all her old friends, and the surroundings to which, in spite of her +incessant murmurs, she felt attached, she clung desperately with her +slender, fibrous roots to the familiar spot where from a seedling she +had lived and grown--yes, clung desperately! But with the utmost care +every tender fibre was released, and she was placed in the basket and +carried away. Was she glad now? No, far from it--wishing again and again +that she had been left alone. + +However, it was too late. She had always complained of not being in her +proper position, and now the glorious change was come; she was being +taken to where her hopes had aspired,--a conservatory or a greenhouse, +it mattered not which. + +After a while, with the usual indifference of such natures, her regrets +subsided, giving place to thoughts respecting the place in which she was +destined to live. + +'Of course I shall be welcomed by all the nobler flowers with delight +and astonishment,' she mused; 'delight because of my agreeable manners, +and astonishment at my beauty! How I wish my old hedgerow friends could +but be present to witness my reception!' + +But this reception, upon which she built such bright fancies, was +delayed for some few days, for, on arriving at her destination, she was +carried into a dingy shed, not into the splendid glass palace her +visions had conjured up. + +'Is this the place to which I am destined?' she muttered complainingly. +'Oh dear! no one will see me here. I wish I had remained in the lane, +for there was a chance of my being admired by some passer-by. What is +the use of my ambitious hopes, if this is to be the end of them?' + +Fortunately there was no flower or even a plant near to be wearied with +her repinings, so on she grumbled, until at last her misery reached its +climax, when she was taken and pressed tightly into a horrible +flower-pot, then carefully watered, and afterwards put into a dark +corner to take root. Had she been capable of shedding tears, no water +would have been required, such as was given to revive her; for the +sorrow she felt was almost too great to be borne. Here was a life to +lead after all her high aspirations, and her slender roots, too, were so +cramped and squeezed it was something dreadful! Oh for the once despised +hedgerow, with the soft, cool earth, in which she could stretch her +delicate fibres! + +But wait, impatient little flower! other days are coming. + +One morning--at least so it proved to be, though at the time she did not +know it, as in her dark dwelling she saw neither sunrise nor +sunset--well, this morning of which we speak, to her intense delight, +the gentleman came and carried her out into the open air, and surveyed +her critically. + +'Yes,' she heard him say, and how her heart bounded with pride, 'it is +indeed a lovely flower, and may well take its place among those in the +conservatory, for it is really exquisite.' + +Here was a triumph! this was the hour to which she had so long looked +forward. + +'At last, at last!' she murmured. 'Oh, if my old acquaintances could but +see me now, what would they say? I wish some of them were here.' + +Not satisfied even yet! You see there is always an alloy in our greatest +earthly pleasures or triumphs--always a something wanting. Yet so +completely bewildered was she by this excess of gratified pride, that +she knew not whither she was borne, until, when the delirium, for such +it was, had passed, she found herself in a place which her wildest +imaginings never could have supposed possible--a wondrous glass palace, +filled with the most gorgeous flowers of all tints and forms, some +deliciously perfumed, making the air fragrant; whilst in the centre of +this palace a fountain rose and fell with soothing murmurs, scattering +its silvery spray upon exquisite blossoms that floated in the marble +basin. It was almost too lovely, and our little wayside friend sighed +with a sense of overpowering astonishment at the wondrous beauties +around, beauties that dazzled her unaccustomed eyes. Her place, however, +was upon one of the lower shelves, and above her head waved the feathery +leaves of tropical plants, which throve wonderfully well in the heated +atmosphere of this (to her) paradise. + +Then she was left alone with her new associates--alone! how much that +word conveys! + +After some time the other flowers became aware of a stranger having come +among them, and a flutter (as much as such well-bred creatures deigned +to evince) stirred their leaves and petals. + +'What is she like?' asked a Maidenhair Fern, who from her position could +get not even a glimpse of the new arrival. + +'Is she elegant and refined?' inquired a Camellia languidly. + +'Is she fair or dark?' questioned Tea-Rose, with a faint breath. + +'It matters not to me what she is,' murmured Ice-Plant coldly. + +'Where does she come from?' whispered Myrtle to her neighbour Cape +Jasmine. + +'From a hedgerow,' was the reply, but uttered so that all around her +heard the answer. + +'Only a Wild-flower!' was the general exclamation. 'What presumption to +come amongst us!' + +Then a chilling silence fell upon them all, except when they spoke to +each other; but, after that unlucky explanation of her origin, it was as +though they ignored her very existence--she was with them, still not of +them. + +And, strange to say, our little friend, who was so ready with words +among her compeers, was completely silenced by these disdainful +beauties, and, instead of replying, and holding, or rather maintaining, +her position there, she shrank, as it were, abashed and ashamed of her +lowly origin. + +Was this the triumphant reception she had expected? Where was the homage +her beauty was supposed to exact, and where the admiration of her +manners and elegance generally? Ah me! she was only a little wayside +blossom after all, pretty, it is true, and suited to the quiet hedgerow, +but without the merits or the talents to raise her to a higher place. +Better far the humble friends, the lowly mossy bank where she had grown +in peace and rest (save for her own unquiet ambition), than the grandeur +and contempt which now were hers. + +So day after day passed on, and the florist who had brought her from the +shady lane, hoping he had discovered a lovely and rare flower, saw with +regret that his treasure was fading; the heated atmosphere of this +splendid conservatory was too great for her to bear, and she was pining +away for the fresh air and freedom of her old home; but, above all, she +longed for the kindly if rough sympathy of her humble friends; the cold +society of these exotics was gradually yet slowly killing her! In vain +was the owner's care lavished upon her--it would not do; the delicate +petals shrank up witheringly, the slender green leaves became shrivelled +and dying, so in kindness he took her from the gorgeous palace, which +she quitted gladly, without one sigh of regret, and carried her back to +the shady lane, the once despised hedgerow, and carefully placed her in +the very spot from which she had been taken. + +It was the home for her! + +Sadly she turned her dim eyes to the old friends around, who gazed upon +the sorrow-stricken Flower pityingly and without reproach. + +'I have returned to die,' she murmured. 'Ambition which has pure and +holy aspirations is laudable in all; but I mistook pride for that which +is more noble, and I am punished. Do not blame me,' she pleaded +piteously, 'but give me your pity, and when I am gone, think with +tenderness upon the poor little Wild-flower who knew, when too late, +that her place was best and happiest when among the humble blossoms by +the peaceful hedgerow!' + + + + +PARABLE NINTH. + +THE HONEYSUCKLE AND THE BUTTERFLY--HUMILITY AND PRIDE. + + +One early spring day, a little shoot of Honeysuckle was putting forth +its tendrils low down on the ground at the foot of a quickset hedge. As +yet it was but a weakly sprig, not knowing its own strength, nor even +dreaming that it would ever rise far above the earth. Yet still it was +very contented, drawing happiness from its lowly surroundings, happy in +living, and feeling the warm sunshine kissing its fragile leaves. + +Close by, there was a strange, dark, oblong mass, and the little +Honeysuckle tried to imagine what it could possibly be, for it never +moved, nor evinced emotion of any kind; and yet it was alive, because +people would take it up, examine it, then put it down again, saying,-- + +'It is only a common Chrysalis!' But what _that_ was the Honeysuckle +knew not. + +At last, one day, when the sun was shining very brightly indeed, and the +air was warm, and filled with the sweet breath of spring, to her great +surprise she saw this peculiar object move, then by degrees the dark +brown casing was cast aside, and she saw that it had wings! + +'Why, what are you?' she questioned, in utter amazement at this +marvellous transformation. + +'Me!' he replied. 'Oh, I am a Butterfly, and you will see that very soon +I shall become most lovely, such gloriously tinted feathers will deck my +wings, all the world will be lost in admiration, I shall be so +beautiful!' + +'And will you let me see you then?' the meek little flower asked humbly. + +'Oh yes! certainly you shall gaze upon me,' he answered, with a mighty +air of condescension. + +'But will you not always remain here?' she questioned, pleased at the +idea of having so charming a neighbour. + +'Dear me, no! I should think not, indeed. Why, I shall fly far away +from this humble neighbourhood!' was his exclamation. + +'What! and leave me?' + +'Certainly! what else could you expect?' he replied. 'My ambition could +not endure such a humdrum existence as yours; with these gay-coloured +wings of mine I shall soar to higher realms, and be courted and caressed +where'er I go!' + +'Oh that I had wings like yours, or that you clung to earth!' sighed the +tender-hearted Honeysuckle, who, from having been so long in close +companionship with the dark, unsociable Chrysalis had actually grown to +like him. + +'Nonsense! what a ridiculous wish!' exclaimed the gaudy insect, who did +not share his little friend's feeling of regard. 'Why, I should die if I +were rooted to one place! I require a large sphere in which to move +about; while as to you--I doubt if ever you will rise higher in the +world than you are now.' + +Not a kind remark to make, certainly, and it sadly grieved the humble +flower to hear the Butterfly thus speak. + +'And yet,' she sorrowfully mused, 'perhaps he is right; I know I am but +a little green plant, very small, and very lowly, whilst he is so noble +and beautiful with his gorgeous wings. Still, it is heart-rending to +think I shall never rise above the sordid earth, always remain a mere +groundling! But never mind,' she added more cheerfully; 'even +groundlings can do good sometimes, so I'll take courage, and hope for +the best.' + +Not many days after this, the Butterfly called out joyfully to his +little admirer,-- + +'Good-bye! good-bye! See! I have acquired my full beauty, so now I am +off to entrance the world with my perfect loveliness! I _think_ I am an +Emperor, though I am not quite sure; but there! people will soon +appreciate me, and, of course, will acknowledge my claims to +admiration.' + +'And are you really going?' she asked sadly. + +'Yes, of course! I am perfect now, and could not possibly stay _here_ +any longer;' looking round contemptuously upon his humble surroundings. +'But I'll come and see you again, perhaps; _you_ are sure to be found in +the same place!' + +And away he flew with a mocking laugh; his gay wings fluttered merrily +in the sunshine as he poised above the gorgeous garden flowers a while, +then he sped away into distance, and was lost to sight, whilst the +little Honeysuckle felt very lonely as she watched him disappear. + +'Oh dear me!' she sighed; 'I feel rather sad now he has gone. It +certainly must be very nice to rise a little in the world, not to be'-- + +'Take hold of my hand, my dear,' said a kind Bramble, who happened to +hear the flower lament her lowly fate. 'I may perhaps be able to give +you a lift up.' + +'Oh, thank you very much,' was the response; 'but I fear your kindness +would be thrown away, for I do not think I shall ever be more than I am +at present.' + +'One can never know, until he has tried, what may be done,' was the +encouraging rejoinder. 'Look at me, for example! I am only what is +called a Bramble, very much despised by some folks, no doubt; but then, +who despises the fruit I bear? Why, every one likes the hardy +blackberry, and I believe "by your fruit ye are known."' + +'But I shall never yield fruit,' the Honeysuckle exclaimed; 'and as to +flowers'-- + +'You are as yet only a green sprig of something--what I know not,' +interrupted the Bramble sharply. 'But courage, child; take fast hold of +me. I am rough but trusty; so take my hand.' + +'I fear to climb!' cried the other timidly. + +'Nonsense, child! nothing is done without an effort. Only, when once you +have secured a chance, hold it fast,' was the caution given. + +So she ventured to put forth a tender green tendril and clasp her kind +friend's helping hand, which, if rough and thorny, was certainly honest +and true. + +It is very seldom in this world that the humble and shrinking find +friends ready and willing to raise them from the ground; for there is +such a rush and scramble to reach the temples of 'Fame' and of 'Mammon,' +that each one elbows the other in the crowd. Some of the weaker ones get +sadly pushed to the wall, others are trampled under foot, and it is only +the very boldest and most daring of the throng who ever reach the +desired goal. + +But amongst the flowers it is not so; for how many of the weak ones +cling for support to others, and, through their tender care, gain +strength and beauty. And this was the case with the Honeysuckle; she +felt so secure resting on that strong, protecting arm, that by degrees +she began to gain courage, and to feel her own power. The Bramble, too, +perceiving she was something more than a mere 'little green sprig of +something,' kindly encouraged her to persevere in her upward course. So +she clambered up higher and higher; the delicate green tendrils became +firmer and stronger, and at length, after much painful toiling and many +a disappointment, she reached the highest summit of her hopes--the top +of a quickset hedge! + +'Oh, how can I thank you all!' she joyfully cried, when from her lofty +position she gazed around on beautiful scenes undreamt of ere this, and +then looked back upon the toilsome path she had travelled, and beheld +the many kind friends who had helped her on her way, each one of whom +was now rejoicing in her success; 'and you, dear Bramble, my first +generous guide'-- + +'We are all very pleased to see that at last you have succeeded in your +efforts, my dear,' interrupted that sturdy friend; 'and, what is more, +we do not fear you will prove ungrateful, you are sure to remember us.' + +'Indeed, indeed I ever shall!' cried the happy little flower. 'Can I +ever forget those who loved me when I was poor and lowly? that would be +cruel and unkind.' + +And so it proved; for, as the summer grew warmer, and her lovely +blossoms opened to the bright sunshine, she in her gratitude showered +them over those dear ones who had helped her in the days of her poverty; +and the fragrant blossoms thus spread over the hedge and the bramble +enhanced their beauty, and rendered them still more lovely in the eyes +of the passers-by. + +'Dear me!' exclaimed the Butterfly, as one very hot day he alighted to +rest upon one of the Honeysuckle's leaves. 'Dear me!' he repeated, +surveying her critically; 'why, really I did not know you again. How did +you contrive to get so high up in the world?' + +'Kind hearts, loving hands, helped me,' was the simple answer given. + +'Oh, indeed!' he curtly said. 'Well, I owe gratitude to no one. I +suppose you will not get any higher?' he questioned, after a pause. + +'No,' she replied, with her usual humility; 'and even if I could, I +would not wish it; for, living as I do amongst all who are dear to me, I +have no higher ambition.' + +'You were always a faint-hearted thing,' exclaimed the insect, quite +forgetting even to be commonly polite, so elated was he with pride. +'Just compare the difference in our lives! I fly here, I fly there, now +on this flower, now on that. Ah, mine is a glorious life! nothing but +pleasure and excitement all the livelong day. Confess, now, would you +not like to be me?' + +'No,' she answered, with the utmost sincerity; 'I am so happy here, I +would not change my lot even for a career so brilliant as yours.' + +'What a taste!' he exclaimed, with scornful pity; 'no wonder you remain +a hedge-flower! Why, poets write about us, and there is actually a song +called "I'd be a Butterfly." Only think of that!' he exultantly cried. + +'What! and have a pin stuck through one's head, and to be suffocated +with camphor, merely for the sake of being placed in a glass-case for +people to stare at!' ejaculated Spleenwort, with a dash of malice in his +tone. + +'Don't talk of such things, you common flower!' the insect angrily +exclaimed. 'I'll not stay here any longer to listen to such vulgarity. I +prefer more refined society!' + +And away he flew, evidently very much disturbed in his mind by what +Spleenwort had remarked as occurring to butterflies in general, although +he would not acknowledge that it was so, even to himself, but tried to +banish the thought by indulging more freely in what he considered +pleasure. You see--poor, giddy flutterer--he did not like to hear the +plain truth spoken; flattery would have pleased him better, yet truth, +though sometimes bitter, is a wholesome tonic when taken properly. + + * * * * * + +The summer days sped fast, for Father Time's scythe is never idle, and +he was gradually, though slowly, mowing down the flowers which had +garlanded the sunny hours. The leaves once so green were changing now, +assuming their glowing autumn tints, whilst some would fall fluttering +to the ground with a gentle sigh of weariness, as the cold winds were +rustling by. Then the stern northern gale came sweeping along, +proclaiming to the forest trees that winter was on her way; and a +shudder would pass through their sturdy branches when they heard the +tidings, for they feared her chill, icy breath. + +The bees took refuge in their well-stored hives, the ants had barred +their outer doors, and retired to their most secluded apartments; even +the garden spider was sheltered in his home--only the once gay butterfly +was homeless and friendless. + +'Shelter me, shelter me, dear Honeysuckle,' moaned the shivering insect, +coming back to the old home in the day of his sorrow. 'I am so cold, so +weary!' + +'Poor thing!' the tender flower exclaimed, with the utmost pity, +forgetting now all former slights. 'Creep under my leaves, perhaps they +may shield you. But your beautiful wings, how came they so torn and +colourless?' + +'The pitiless storm last night fell upon me and crushed me to the earth +in its fury,' he answered, with difficulty, for he was so feeble. ''Tis +true the gleams of sunshine to-day have revived me a little; but alas! I +am dying! my brief day is over, and there is no one to give me a refuge +save you!' + +'Where are your gay friends?' she asked,'those with whom you sported +throughout the livelong summer hours?' + +'Gone far from me,' he answered bitterly; 'they were but friends of the +fleeting sunshine, and I in the day of my power thought but of myself, +and now--I am left alone to die!' + +The Honeysuckle was deeply moved; she remembered no more his haughty +pride, she only saw that _now_ he was ill and in sorrow; so she placed +her clinging tendrils gently around him, trying thus to keep the poor +Butterfly under the shelter of her protecting leaves. + +Night came stealing on, folding her sable curtains over the earth; and +it was a wild night, for not a star shone in the skies, all was dark and +dreary, for the Storm King was abroad in all his mighty strength. The +fierce gales came with terrific power, tossing the lordly ships as they +nobly braved its fury, but causing, oh, so many loving hearts to +fervently pray 'for those at sea.' No wonder, then, that when the cold +grey dawn awoke the early flowers, they saw the poor crushed Butterfly +lying dead! close beside the little Honeysuckle, whose trustful, meek +heart he had once so cruelly derided. + + + + + PRINTED BY + MORRISON AND GIBB LIMITED + EDINBURGH + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Parables from Flowers, by Gertrude P. 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