s from weeds or insects, to arrange the strings for the
tendrils to climb on, and carefully to regulate their supply of water
and heat!

How much labor to bring in the desired harvest! For that, how many times
shall I see him brave cold or heat, wind or sun, as he does to-day! But
then, in the hot summer days, when the blinding dust whirls in clouds
through our streets, when the eye, dazzled by the glare of white stucco,
knows not where to rest, and the glowing roofs reflect their heat
upon us to burning, the old soldier will sit in his arbor and perceive
nothing but green leaves and flowers around him, and the breeze will
come cool and fresh to him through these perfumed shades. His assiduous
care will be rewarded at last.

We must sow the seeds, and tend the growth, if we would enjoy the
flower.

Four o'clock.--The clouds that have been gathering in the horizon for
a long time are become darker; it thunders loudly, and the rain pours
down! Those who are caught in it fly in every direction, some laughing
and some crying.

I always find particular amusement in these helter-skelters, caused by
a sudden storm. It seems as if each one, when thus taken by surprise,
loses the factitious character that the world or habit has given him,
and appears in his true colors.

See, for example, that big man with deliberate step, who suddenly
forgets his indifference, made to order, and runs like a schoolboy!
He is a thrifty city gentleman, who, with all his fashionable airs, is
afraid to spoil his hat.

That pretty woman yonder, on the contrary, whose looks are so modest,
and whose dress is so elaborate, slackens her pace with the increasing
storm. She seems to find pleasure in braving it, and does not think
of her velvet cloak spotted by the hail! She is evidently a lioness in
sheep's clothing.

Here, a young man, who was passing, stops to catch some of the
hailstones in his hand, and examines them. By his quick and
business-like walk just now, you would have taken him for a tax-gatherer
on his rounds, when he is a young philosopher, studying the effects of
electricity. And those schoolboys who leave their ranks to run after the
sudden gusts of a March whirlwind; those girls, just now so demure, but
who now fly with bursts of laughter; those national guards, who quit the
martial attitude of their days of duty to take refuge under a porch! The
storm has caused all these transformations.

See, it increases! The hardiest are