Page:The Diothas, or, A far look ahead (IA diothasorfarlook01macn).pdf/231

 erto regarded as simply a detestable weed. I proposed, accordingly, that it should be potted in a tub of sufficient size, taking care to remove from the ground every fragment of the root. Then, by taking care to snip off the flowers before ripening, the plant might be preserved as a unique specimen of an apparently extinct species.

The proposal was carried by acclamation. When I returned from the out-house with the large ualin tub that Reva pointed out to me, Hulmar had the plant already so loosened that we could transfer it at once to the tub. We had just carried this under the shade of a spreading beech when a visitor was seen approaching the house; and Hulmar was obliged to leave the completion of the task to me, under the superintendence of Reva.

While thus engaged, an idea occurred to me that took Reva's fancy too. I knew that before long it would be her turn to give a lecture in the village institute. Why not select for theme this strange regressor from a distant past? The plant itself would attract attention by its peculiar and unknown aspect. In addition to its botanical and scientific aspects, the subject admitted of many interesting historical details being introduced,—its former prevalence, its extirpation, the story of the probable origin of this one specimen.

Seated on the rustic seat encircling the lower trunk of the beech, Reva listened attentively. Encouraged by the silent approval of my fair auditor, I poured forth a stream of anecdote more or less connected with the thistle, from its preservation of the Scottish host at Largs to the character of the people who adopted it as a national emblem.