mouth
use´-ful

1. Some sprigs of ivy had been standing all the winter in a vase. The
water had often been changed, and the leaves washed.

2. When spring came each spray began to put out buds. The buds were not
all at the ends of the sprays, but came out also close to the old
leaves.

3. At last there was a very small bud between every old leaf and the
stem. When the first bud opened into a leaf, Dora and Harry clapped
their hands, and called every one to look.

4. 'How clean and sweet it is!' cried Dora. 'And do you see something
like wool or hair on it?'

'How curly it is!' said Harry. 'It is not quite open yet. Why, it is
like a hand! All the leaves look rather like hands, don't they? See;
one, two, three, four, five!'

5. 'Look at this old leaf against the light,' said the mother; 'now you
can see the five long fingers. But people call them ribs, not fingers!
They are for the purpose of keeping the leaf spread out.'

6. 'Like the ribs of an umbrella,' said Harry. 'They seem very strong;
the middle one, which goes up straight from the stem, is the strongest
of all.'

[Illustration: Spray of Ivy.]