A QUAINT BIT OF SENTIMENT 



BY GAYNE T. K. NORTON 



UP in the woods near Tuckahoe. N. 'S'., arc two sap- 

 lings, growing side by side, tall and straight. 

 About eight feet from the ground they are joined, 

 and in that joining lurks a bit of mythology and 

 sentiment, for it is a true lover's knot, unknown and un- 

 noticed by many who tread the path below. 



It was the custom in old Arcady for a man and a maid 

 ujion their betrothal to go alone into the woods. There, 

 two very young saplings, growing side by side with 

 branches intermingled, were selected and in some wav 

 fastened together, by grafting, tying or splicing, so as 

 the years passed, they would become as one. If the trees 

 grew tall and straight above the knot all would be well 

 in the lives of the couple: 

 but woe totheunhappy pair 

 (lid they grow apart. Great 

 care was used in the selec- 

 tion, to see that no other 

 tree would interfere with 

 growth, and saplings shel- 

 tered from storms were 

 sought for ; and, once 

 chosen, the yoimg trees 

 were carefully tended and 

 watched. So the legend 

 ran. 



We, my companion and 

 I who had found and pho- 

 tographed the k n o t. 

 walked on, aglow with 

 imagining the story it held, 

 noticing not at all the chill 

 of the January afternoon. 

 A bit further on was a lad 

 of eight, in sweater and 

 rubber boots, brown and 

 healthy, "discovering" his 

 whistle. 



Making ourselves heard 

 we asked where a spring might be found. He led 

 us to his home, showing the way to two chairs before a 

 crackling log fire in a cozy New England kitchen. Be 

 hind us bustled a fat and smiling, middle-aged, inotherly 

 ])erson, who, paying no heed to our protestations, set 

 before us two steaming mugs of cofTee, with sugar and 

 cream — not the doctored, delicatessen kind, either — and 

 a heaping plate of doughnuts, the specie with the hole 

 in the middle. She talked while we ate ; and what a 

 treat it was ! Then her husband came in, a big, strap- 

 |)ing fellow in boots and furs, who bayed a welcome that 

 made the tea-kettle cover vibrate. The motherly person 

 brought him slippers and pipe, seated herself and knit- 



A "TRUE LOVKKS KNOT' NE.\R TL'CK.AHUE, N KW VOKK 



liy an old custom a newly betrothed couple spliced two ffrowing saplings 

 tugether so they would become one. Such .splicing caused the giowth shown 

 in this picture. 



ting at his side ( she was doing socks for Canadian 

 "boys" at the front) while "Tow Head," as he called 

 our young guide, climbed to his lap. For minutes we 

 listened to the tire, ])erfectly happy as the ])ipe smoke 

 curled and the dimghnuts settled. Then our host star- 

 tled us. 



"I expect you chaps are wondering about 'the knot?' " 

 .\ contagious chuckle rumbled out as he noted the sur- 

 prise. "I'm a bit of a woodsman," he explained, "and I 

 saw you without bein' seen." 



"May we have the story?" my companion asked. 

 The big fellow settled comfortably. His wife smiled 

 hai)pily, edging closer. "Tow Head" yawned. 



" 'Tain't much of a sto- 

 ry," he began, "but here 

 it is. Vou see my Grand- 

 dad and Dad both lived 

 long and happily up in 

 Canada. They w ere 

 l)oth married over the 

 'knots' they'd tied, and 

 swore by them. "Twas 

 only natural I should be- 

 lieve in the custom, too. 

 So when I came down here 

 — South, we call it — 1 

 l)rought it with me and 

 when we became en- 

 gaged," here he simply 

 took the ready hand of his 

 wife, "why we 'tied a knot.' 

 That's longer ago than my 

 wife cares to remember, so 

 we'll forget the date. The 

 end of the tale you see. 

 The trees grew straight, 

 that's all." 



To give his name wmild 



be a sacrilege, but the 



knot-l)(iun(l irees are there, by a path in the Tuckahoe 



woods, and the New England kitchen is not far distant 



TN BUILDING the government fleet of standardized 

 -*- wooden ships one item is the use of creosote to pre- 

 vent decay of exposed surfaces. The instructions to dis- 

 trict officers of the Emergency Fleet Corporation pro- 

 vide that during the building of the hulls of these 

 ships the joined surfaces of timbers and planking shall 

 be treated with a coal tar distillate of the physical and) 

 mechanical characteristics required by the specifications 

 for the brush treatment of poles adopted by the National 

 Electric Light Association. 



