The Valley Virginian. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1865-1895, 1883-01-04
NO .s8
A Meandering Brook.
IT'S DEVIOUS COURSE AND ITS soLILoQUY TO
THE FLOWERs E

| THE FLOWERS. tr,
! wish owned a farm Just few miles west
OF Cadz junction. l don't care a cent for the.
| farm, but there runs through it the crookedest
little brook you ever saw The Star.route
business is straight as the golden rule in com.
parison with it. Crookedg 1t goes wander
ing through the green meadow as though all
the year were June, and 1t had nothing TO do
Dut Kill time and lOiter about in shady hooks
ana sunny beaches. Crooked Not a silver
plated sinner that flashes his glittering scales
In The sunlight down in the limpid ripples can
lel whether he is going up stream or down.
Inc purple-plumed iron weed and the bend
ing golden rod, bowling to each other with
stately grace across the singing brook, don't
know whether they are standing on opposite
sizes, or II they are on the same side, which
SIDE IL Is. All the way across the meadow 1t
pays hide and seek with itself, boxing the
compass with It's cratic wanderings every
hundred feet. 1t came into the meadow [
think. when the wind anemones were bloom
ing III the lee OF the Mills that fringe the farm.
"Oh, my beautiful darling" it said, II yrill
stay here near you" But the wind flowers
passed away, and the violets opened their
piue eyes and the buttercup shOne in the
grasses OF the meadow. Il have lost my sweet
hearts, said tickle little brook, "but the meadow
Is beautiful since you came into it, and will
stay here I'LL you are gone" And it turned
again ana loltered to the north, where the wind
MOWERS died. and eddied TO the east, where
bank OF ylolets looked shyly down at him with
their great purple eyes, and he strolled to the
south, where the buttercups, none abashed
laughed merrily IN the golden sunlight and he
saunGered TO Tie west where the wind rose
snlVerlIg little, Was just trying on her new
spring dress, which wasn't long enough vet
W cover her round, wine-red arms. And by
and by the violets closed their dear blue eyes,
ana The 0uttercups faded, and the poor little
brook, who had got back nicely to the place
where he ran under the fence to get into the
IL eadoW when he first saw the flowers, rippled
slowly over TO The wild rose again, who was
now In full dress and wore her lovely pink
bonnet, and had clusters OF buds all the Way
from her throat and shoulders down to her
waist. An, me" he murmured, ''my friends
are gone, and l was going to run down to the
sea and drown myself. But you are so lovely
want you TO Stay here where may see you.
AND so violet ana buttercup were laid away
With poor little bloodroot and sailorbreeches.
md by this time the little brook had so many
olaymates that wild rose and sweet brier only
'aw him when he came round to that corner
u the meadow. he ran about all the time
lnslng down little runs with the most inim-
table thrills, babbling with family of great
rocks that had settled on the edge
IL pool and gone into the moss business,
whispering to the blue flags clustered under
ne low bank, playing with the tall reeds that
rnged the still pools, and lingering long
lme with the groups OF colts foot VI here the
waters were shallow. There were 30 many
hlngs to see and 50 much to say in this meadow,
10 wonder the little brook ran about In it all
ummer, before, at last, when the wild rose had
hrown away the pretty pink bonnet and put
N the little red winter hood, and the rushes
we're brown and the colts foot Withered, and
he golden roc was gray and the purple iron
weed Was plumed with tufts of feathery brown,
turned 10 the lower end of the meadow, and
Keeping under the fence, went hurrying away
the Musklngum, to get down to the Ohio
nd Mississippi before the winter caught it
nd fastened 1t to the meadow for the next
i've months
don't care very much to stay along the
ahk OF canal, Dat would like to saunter
long the banks of that little Ohio brook. And
think it would take just about week to
ross that one meadoW.-Burdette.