“Yes,” was the reply; “and I hope that you will feel properly grateful to these aborigines whenever you eat maple-sugar.”

CHAPTER III.

OLD ACQUAINTANCES:  THE ELMS.

Miss Harson had admonished her little flock that they must use their own eyes and be able to tell her things instead of depending altogether on her to tell them; so now they were all peering curiously among the trees to see which were putting on their new spring suits.  The yellow trees and the pink trees had been readily distinguished, but, although the others had not been idle, it was not so easy for little people to discern their leaf-buds.

Clara soon made a discovery, however, of what her governess had noticed for a day or two, and the wonder was found on their own home-elms, those stately trees which had shaded the house ever since it was built, and from which the place got its pretty name—­Elmridge.

“Well, dear,” said Miss Harson, coming to the upper window from which an eager head was thrust, “what is it that you wish me to see?”

“Those funny flowers on the bare elm trees,” was the reply.  “Look, Miss Harson!  Didn’t I see them first?”

“You have certainly spoken of them first, for neither Malcolm nor Edith has said anything about them.  But they must both come up here now, where they can see them, and Malcolm and I can manage to reach some of the blossoms by getting out of the broad window on to the little balcony.”

Up came the two children kangaroo-fashion in a series of jumps, and presently Miss Harson was holding a cluster of dark maroon-colored flowers in her hand.

“How queer and dark they make the trees look!” said Malcolm; “and they’re so thick that they ’most cover up the branches.  They’re like fringe.”

“A very good description,” replied his governess.  “And now I wish you all to examine the trees very thoroughly and tell me afterward what you have noticed about them; then we will go down to the schoolroom and see what the books will tell us in our talk about the American elm and its cousin of England.”

The books had a great deal to tell about them, but Miss Harson preferred to hear the children first.

“What did my little Edith see when she looked out of the window?” she asked.

“Stems of trees,” was the reply, “with flowers on ’em.”

“A very good general idea,” continued Miss Harson, “but perhaps Clara can tell us something more particular about the elms?”

“They are very tall,” said Clara, hesitatingly, “and they make it nice and shady in summer; and some of the branches bend over in such a lovely way!  Papa calls one of them ‘the plume.’”

“And now Malcolm?”

“The trunk—­or big ‘stem,’ as Edie would call it—­is very thick, and the branches begin low down, near the ground.”