Page:Bushland stories.pdf/91

This page needs to be proofread.
THE THREE HEROES
79

and Wellingtons, and he is the great man you should mourn."

"But he wasn’t a soldier," protested the Oak.

"No, he wasn’t a soldier, but if you listened to what was going on in the world, instead of always living in the past, you would know that the great man of to-day is not the one who breaks down, but the one who builds up. And a man who adds one new truth to the knowledge of the world, does more for mankind than any soldier who kills and destroys and plunders."

The Willow’s tears had dried as she listened to the Pine’s words, and she raised her face to him and said—"I like what you say about building up. It is very much better than breaking down.”

"Of course it is," said the Pine gently. "I have lived in these gardens for nearly a century. I came from an island far away in the eastern ocean, and I was planted here by the greatest lady in the land. I have seen many, many changes in my life, but I have not spent my time in sighing for my native land, or for that gentle lady. I have always looked upwards, and thought of the future and the good time to come. And so I have grown straight and strong, and now children say I am nearly as tall as the sky.

This article is issued from Wikisource. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.