Mary's Meadow, and Other Tales of Fields and Flowers

t Mother and Chris were away as be

selves there at the time when Mother would have had us with her, provided that we did not bother him or

Most of them have pretty pictures. It was because we had been rather unlucky for some time, and had had disappointing ones on our birthdays, that Arthur said to me, "Lo

but talk; and we call it stuff when there is a very interesting picture, and you r

had had disappointments in t

ey had just been staying with us, and had brought beautiful Japanese pictures with him, and had

the pine needles were most beautifully drawn; and there was a nest with young storks in it, and behind the stork and the nest and the

presently he said, "It's not nearly so good a stork as Uncle Charley's. And where's the stem of the pine? It looks as if the stork were on the ground and on the top of

s so fond of toads. For months he made friends with one in the garden. It used to crawl away from him, and he used to creep after it, talking to it, and then it used to half begin, to crawl up the garden wall, and stand s

hris crying, and saying, "It couldn't be the right one, Arthur;" and Arthur frowning, and saying, "It is the right story; but it's stuff. I'll tell you what that book's good for, Chris. To paint the pictures. And you've got a new paint-box." So Mother said, "What's the matter?" And Ar

do. You get Mary to cut out a lot of the leaves of your book that have no pictures, and that will make it like a real scrap-book; and then I'll give you

es that I know he prized, because Chris liked them. But the v

and spent all his play-time in making mills and machinery. He did grind some corn into flour once, but it was not at all white. He said that was because the bran was left in.

, and Mother has made beautiful sketches of it. She caught the last cold she got before going abroad with sketching it-the day we had a most d

was so vexed not to help him, that when I saw a book in the library which I thought would do so, I di

at is the ma

t will tell you all about mills; and it is

ng? What's that go

that's nothing. It's a Miller's Dictionary, and it is in four huge volumes, 'with plates.'

began, but I did not hear the rest, for he started

dener's and Botanist's Dictionary, by Philip Miller; and the plates were plates of flowers, very truly drawn, like the pine tree in Unc

t our gardens. We are all very fond of flowers, I most of all. And at last Arthur said he thought that miniature mills were really rat

rry and Adela took up theirs, and we did

ener knew Miller's Gardener's Dictionary quite well. He sai

ourselves, so we invited him into the library. Saxon wanted to come in too, but the gardener was very cross with him, and sent him out;

e explained a lot of things to Arthur, and helped us

Saxon took advantage of this to wag his way in and join the party), and said, "It's a rare privilege, th

Saxon, and beat him out

d be glad now and again to hear what was said about this or that plant

us pretty often, we would look out anything he want