oomed in beauty
year after year, evergreen--'

"'And the voiceless birds?'

"'The mute birds of the broken wings are kind deeds, thought of, but
left undone, while those performed multiply and fly, gay singing-birds,
making many hearts glad!'"

The reader's voice ceased; the book fell in her lap; a silence
followed; Prince lay blinking in the sunshine; the birds and insects
gave no token of their presence--even the leaves of the trees hung
motionless.

The girls, sitting in the shade side by side, vaguely realized the
calm; the heat gave them only a sense of well-being; their thoughts
were at first too shadowy for words.

Alene was thinking of Ivy's story. It reminded her of the text she had
heard the previous Sunday in the little vine-covered church on the
crest of the hill; "Be ye kind one to another, merciful, forgiving one
another even as God hath forgiven you in Christ." She wished that she
too might go through the Garden of Good Intentions whilst flowers
sprang up and birds sang sweetly round about her. But what could she
do, what deed of kindness perform, however small, that might perhaps
bloom as a wild flower by the wayside to gladden the passer-by?

She gave a start when with a sudden bark Prince leaped up and ran to
chase some stray chickens; a breeze blew up till every leaf and blade
of grass quivered with joy; a bird twittered softly and was answered by
his mate and presently from each bush and tree came the voices of its
lodgers in a song of praise.

Then Laura spoke, showing that her thoughts had divined Alene's in a
sympathetic wave.

"Now, what do you think, Alene, of a 'Kind Deeds' article in the
Happy-Go-Luckys' constitution, pledging each member to the sending out
of little birds with strong wings that can fly?"

"And planting seeds to spring up in fragrant flowers? Oh, Laura!"
cried Alene, "that would be beautiful!"

CHAPTER V

A DISGUSTED POET

When Laura rashly undertook the role of stage manager, or to say more
truly, when the position devolved upon her as a matter of course,
because she was the president of the Happy-Go-Luckys, she accepted the
honor and the duties in blithe confidence, never dreaming of
difficulties.

For a time everything went smoothly, and that lively sympathy for
others in like position which marked her after years would never,
perhaps, have been called forth was it not for her discovery one day in
the attic of an old reader which contained somet