II . M APLE SEED S .
By and by the seeds were grown .
I saw one little seed fly gaily off in the wind . Now , ” it said to i t self, I can begin to be a tree .
”
It di d not know how long it m u st wait .
It said, Now, sun and rain , help m e to begin to be a tree .
”
But they said, “ Not yet ; this is not the tim e to begin to grow .
”
So , all through the bri ght fall days , the little seed waited .
Som eti m es the wi nd would com e alo ng and carry it to som e other pl a ce . All the cold winter it still wai ted .
and
by the snow and ice cam
and h eld i t fast . It could not grow .
eAnd no w it began to look very old and brown .
It said, “ Shall I ever begin to be a tree
III . MAPLE S EED S .
At last the warm sp ring days cam e .
I saw a little wing sticking straight up into the air .
I went quite close to it .
Then I saw that the little seed had really begun to be a tree .
Down into th e ground it had sent a little white ro o t , like a thread .
Out of its brown , h a r d
coat cam e two long, slend e r leave s
Th ey di d not look at all like m aple leaves . The little tree was glad to begin as best i t could .
Before long it h ad two m ore lea v es , regular m aple leaves .
Next year I saw it again .
It was still only a very little tree .
“ H ow patient you m ust learn to be , little tree , ” I thought .
“ You wish to do so m uch .
And you m ust grow so slowly .
It will be years before you are a big t r e e i ’
We have t o learn the sam e thing , littl e childr en .
All that is best and all th at lasts l o ngest , com es slowly.
Here is Baby Bean in her bed .
She is all covered up .
I made the bed nice and soft for her .
I took out all the hard places .
Then I put Baby Bean into it .
I covered her up with earth .
That is this baby ’ s blanket .
Then d own cam e the rain - drops .
They were calling Baby Bean t o wake up , but there she lies , still fa st asleep .
She is all wrapped up in a whit e coat .