Again he was drawn up. Then the snow-wind came and silently froze him into feathery snowflakes, and drove him down upon a mountain side. Here he lay for many days, till at last he was drawn up once more. And now the sun said: "You have done well and waited patiently, little cloud. To-night you shall have your reward."
So when the time of sunset came the little cloud sailed into the west with the others. There the sun smiled at him and shone so gloriously on him that he turned golden and red, and glowed more brightly than any there.
SUMMER TEARS
The little clouds ran off to play
Across the summer sky;
Their sunshine mother called them back—
They all began to cry.
Their tears fell down as drops of rain
On dusty garden beds;
The flowers opened wide their cups,
The leaves held up their heads.
And "Thank you, gentle clouds," they said,
"For drops so big and wet;
We were so thirsty. Did you know?
Don't leave off crying yet."
THE WHEAT PEOPLE
It was spring. The winter storms were over, the sun was beginning to warm up the earth, and everything was stirring. Under the ground the Wheat Babies were pushing off their warm blankets and struggling out of their cradles. "We wish to go up now and see what the world is like," they said. They pushed and pushed until at last their heads were above the ground, and they could see what the world was like. "What a beautiful place!" they said. "How blue the sky is! And how golden the sun! All around the birds are singing." They grew tall and graceful, and waved and nodded to one another across the field.