The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1886-02-03
Talk with the Young Folks.

Lively n Their lOcomOtlOn.
4 Talk with the Young Folks.
Miss annie T-umbun SlOsson, N Hartford,
Conn Times.i
But our eyes are OPEN" can not bear to
contradict you. but I must say, and sly it
again and again, No, No, No, a thousand
times No Your eyes OF blue, black, brown or
gray, wide and bright and curious as they
seem are shut bandaged, blind. 1t is 50 with
all OF rs till some book. some wise friend,
some sudden uspiration-heayen-sent L
think. act as q skillf1l Oculist and helps our
sight. Kittens and puppies open their eyes,
] believe, or the ninth day; human beings
sometimes keep theirs closed for ninety
years.
w nat beautiful flowers you have behind
your house, l said one day to a bright-eyed
lad who stood at the gate OF New England
farmhouse. 'Ma'am" with look of great
surprise on his s1nburnt face. 1 repeated my
remark and pointed toward the spot whose
beauty ] had been, for some minutes admir-
ing. Il was so bright in color as almost to
dazzle the eye.
There were the tall plants of the Golden
COne-fOwer, the blossoms ike what you call
Yellow Daisies but larger, and in the middle
of each flower stands acknowledgment thin
bic, very curious and pretty, its leaves bright
green cut and scallOped. Then there was the
swamp milk weed for this was a wet spOt)
and running all about there, was the little
March blue-bell, and there were feathery
grasses and graceful sedges. Oh, il was so
pretty. But ny farmers boy still looked
puzzled. We amt cot no flowers down
there, he said at last, ''the gardens in the
front yard" There was some stiff little
flower beds, in front OF the house, with gera-
NUNS, petunias and phlOX. But" cried
IN wonder, II mean those yellow, pink and
blue flowers down here" and / walked to-
ward the spot, followed by the boy. l wish
you could have seen the look on his face,
and heard the cOntemDtuOus tone in which
he said, Them, Why they amt flowers,
they're weeds Some OF you may laugh at
this, and think yourself much wiser than
this little rustic. But fear many ofyou are
making Just his mistake. You are every day
calling your loveliest flowers, weeds. You
are overlooking the beautiful things about
you, which are free to all, and signing after
those that are costly and not half so wonder
fUl and full of beauty. l wish / could show
you in my little talh how easily you conld
make your lives full of beauty, interest,
keen enjoyment Your quiet farm life may
seem 20 some of you dull. mOnOtOnOus, void
of interest. You long for the pleasures, ex-
elements, means of knowledge found in the
city. its museums, Libraries, schools, conserv-
atories, gay shop windows; but what mu-
scum OF wonders Is this piece Of woods a
stones throw from your door? What book
could tell you what natures pictured pages
tell What school with its hot, close room
and weary teacher is like the free open out
door lte with its lessons learned each hour
80 easily and WELL COnServatories look at
your flower sprinkled meadows, your grass
fringed brookside, your rich, bloomy swamps
and olossoming woods. ShOp-windows,
What stuff so soft and rich as your velvet
moss? What god 50 shining as yeur butter
cups What jewels so brilliant as your en-
eraid grass with its diamond dew drops?
What carpet 50 gorgeous as the autumn
leaves under your very feet? And vet how
little you know Of these things Let us see
What can you tell me of the buttercup?
Perhaps you Will give the answer my old
darky down south used always 10 give when
asked about my plant. It's kim of
flower thing Missy" Well, what else? 1T
is yellow" you say, "and the cows don't
care for it" Perhaps some little chap adds
and If you hold it under your chin it tells
whether you love butter" Very good. But
there IS 50 much more than this. How many
kinds of buttercups are there on your fathers
farm? Only one do you say? But look at
that one poisoning in MAY and June IL is
not often more than foot high; its flower is
very large; more than an inch across apd
deep golden yellow.
Pull il up out Of the ground. See. It has
a little bulb, like a small onion. Now look
az these others in the field there not open
are very tall-twO or three feet high; their
flowers are not quite 80 large as those Of the
last OF 50 deep in color their leaves are
split into narrower divisions, and, biggest diff
ference Of all, they have no bulb at the base.
But what is that yelloy flower which grows
along the little brook behind your house
and IN those wet meadows.
That bnttercup too? But it blossoms in
April while yet the snow lies on the hills
and in the deep woods. 1t is not more than
SIX or eight inches high; it sends out long
runners and creeps along the ground. And,
look there, in the pond by the mill, what is
that floating on the water? You would not
recognize the leaves for they are ike skele-
ton ones, all cut INTO fine, threadlike, forked
divisions. But the flowers, which lie on the
surface Of the water, as pond lilies do, they
look familiar, do they not2 They surely are
golden buttercups, too.
And there along the banks Of the same
pond 81 On its grayelly " sandy shpres YOU