"I asked Aunt Fortune the other day," said Ellen, laughing very heartily, "and she told me to hush up and not be a fool; and I told her I really wanted to know, and she said she wouldn't make herself a simpleton if she was in my place; so I thought I might as well be quiet." "By the time the cold weather comes, Ellen, the leaves have done their work, and are no more needed. Do you know what work they have to do? — do you know what is the use of leaves?" "Why, for prettiness, I suppose," said Ellen, "and to give shade; I don't know anything else." "Shade is one of their uses, no doubt, and prettiness too. He who made the trees, made them 'pleasant to the eyes,' as well as 'good for food.' So we have an infinite variety of leaves; one shape would have done the work just as well for every kind of tree, but then we should have lost a great deal of pleasure. But, Ellen, the tree could not live without leaves. In the spring, the thin sap which the roots suck up from the ground is drawn into the leaves; there, by the help of the sun and air, it is thickened and prepared in a way you cannot understand, and goes back to supply the wood with the various matters necessary for its growth and hardness. After this has gone on some time, the little vessels of the leaves become clogged and stopped up with earthy and other matter; they cease to do their work any longer; the hot sun dries them up more and more, and by the time the frost comes they are as good as dead. That finishes them, and they drop off from the branch that needs them no more. Do you understand all this?" "Yes, Ma’am, very well," said Ellen; "and it's exactly what I wanted to know, and very curious. So the trees couldn't live without leaves?" "No more than you could without a heart and lungs." "I am very glad to know that," said Ellen. "Then how is it with the evergreens, Miss Alice? Why don't their leaves die and drop off too?" "They do; look how the ground is carpeted under that pine- tree." "But they stay green all winter, don't they?" "Yes; their leaves are fitted to resist frost; I don't know what the people in cold countries would do else. They have the fate of all other leaves, however; they live awhile, do their work, and then die; not all at once, though; there is always a supply left on the tree. Are we rested enough to begin again?" "I am," said Ellen; "I don't know about the Captain. Poor fellow! he's fast asleep. I declare it's too bad to wake you up, pussy. Haven't we had a pleasant little rest, Miss Alice? I have learnt something while we have been sitting here." "_That_ is pleasant, Ellen," said Alice, as they began their upward march; "I would I might be all the while learning something." "But you have been teaching, Miss Alice, and that's as good. Mamma used to say, 'It is more blessed to give than to receive.' " "Thank you, Ellen," said Alice, smiling; "that ought to satisfy me, certainly."