BRAMPTON-AMONG-THE-ROSES.

groundsel and thistles swarm, and are on the look out
for favourable places in which to alight; but he only
sees the effect, and often grumbles without searching
for the cause of the wide-spread evil, when a spade
sent down to their roots would destroy them, and turn
up a rich soil which only produced them because it
could get nothing better to grow; the good seed has
not been cast on the ground, for Nature accomplishes
her great work in the same way as we set seed; not
that I begrudge the weeds the space they occupy, it is
not their fault that they are there, they are only in a
wrong place, like dirt on a pretty face. There is room
enough for them outside the garden, many animals
enjoy them as food as well as birds."
 She liked to look down on the great golden dande-
lions at her feet on a dull day, and often tried to fancy
that the sunshine was sleeping above the roots; there
was such a splendour about the garish flowers. But
she often wished they were farther away, as their
thick, milky roots drew up the moisture from the
flowers, and they are among the first wild flowers that
Spring sends out as scouts to see if there are any
tidings of the birds that have been wintering over the
sea, though the yellow coltsfoot appears a little earlier.
 She knew them all well, from the purple dead.
nettle with its little pea-shaped bloom, showing as
soon as the snowdrop, and bringing sweet dreams of a
distant summer-time even while half-buried amid the
withered leaves; while the bees dare not stay out long
together for fear of the cold, though they may often
be seen peeping out of their hives on a warm day, if,
there is a momentary gleam of sunshine. Then the
rose-bushes felt the rising sap run up their sprays,
causing them to first put out those pretty emerald
buds, which in a few weeks become beautiful green