Part 5

The seed-babies grew and grew. They would soon have outgrown their cradles, only the strange thing is, the cradles grew too! They grew as fast as the seeds and kept them snug and safe.

So all summer long, until the frost came and it was time for the morning-glories to take their long winter sleep, the buds opened in the morning. All summer long the bright morning-glories filled their cups with nectar and opened their boxes of snow-white pollen for the bees. And all summer long the seed-children received their pollen and grew and grew in their cradles that grew too. But after a while the green cradles turned brown. And after another while the brown cradles opened to let the seed-children look out, and as soon as this happened every little black seed—for they had grown quite black by this time—fell out of its cradle! It did not hurt it to fall out, for it tumbled and rolled down to the earth, where, at last, the wind came and covered it with leaves, as the robins covered up the babes in the woods. And the little black seed-babies lay there as snug as seed-babies could be.

Then the snow came and spread a blanket over them, and the leaves and the snow kept them as warm as they wanted to be until springtime came and the snow went away; and the seeds began to stretch themselves and think it was time to wake up and go out and see what was going on in the big world above.

THE OVULES

When the ovules get ready to grow, the flower prepares to bloom.

All about the ovules the delicate walls of the ovary shut tightly.

The white filaments of the stamens group themselves about it; you cannot see the ovary, they stand so close to it.

Their anther cells reach halfway up to the stigma, for the white stigma stands above the anthers. The anthers and the stigma are there for the sake of the ovules.

But this is not all.

A delicate corolla of bright colors surrounds the stamens and pistil. It holds them in its white tube, and spreads the bright border out wide for the bees to see and come to the help of the ovules.

But this is not all.

The green calyx wraps its sepals about the end of the corolla tube, and when the corolla falls the calyx covers nicely the ovary and helps it protect the ovules.

But this is not all.

When the bees have been and have left their message of life, and when the corolla has faded and fallen, the stems of the flowers turn down and hide the ovary with its seedlets under the leaves.

But this is not all.

The leaves work day and night to make food for the plant, and some of it goes to the ovules. The leaves eat what is in the air and change it to food for the rest of the plant and the ovules.

But this is not all.

The roots suck food from the hard earth; they help the leaves make food.

But this is not all.

The stems carry the food from the roots to the leaves, and from the leaves to the flowers, where it gets to the ovules.

Why should so much be done for the sake of the tiny ovules, white little atoms at the heart of the flower?

Why should the flowers care? Why should they spread bright corollas and arrange these cunning protections and draw up the sap for the sake of the tiny white ovules?

Look into the ovary and see them.

Six small white things are they, so small and soft you would scarcely think they were worth much care.

But look again and think a little. They are very wonderful, although so small. They grow to the ovary by a little stem; they get the good sap to grow on through this stem. They have a little hole through their delicate coats, and through this hole the pollen enters.

When the pollen is in, the little hole closes, and the ovules feel strong and alive. They draw in the sap the leaves have made them through their little stem; they grow larger and firmer. They cease to be tiny white round things; they get two leaves with a little stem and a bud between them.

They are no longer ovules, they are seeds. They are little sleeping vines. In each black little seed is a whole vine packed away.

After a time the old vine will fade away. It will fall and turn brown. It will do no more work of changing gases and minerals into living plant. It will not again have green leaves and bear bright flowers.