198 IN THE DAYS OF AUDUBON 



" I rose at four o'clock, and have looked forth. The 

 firmament is glorious. Jupiter and Yenus are magnificent, 

 ' and stars unnumbered gild the glowing pole.' I wish I 

 could once see the constellations of the South, though I 

 do not think they can excel the heavens which are over 

 our heads. An hour or two hence we shall have a fine sun- 

 rise. The long twilights of this season of the year make 

 the sun's rising a slow and beautiful progress. About an 

 hour hence these lesser lights will begin to ' pale their in- 

 effectual fires.' " 



Meantime, Mr. Baker and his men are already milking 

 and feeding the cows, and his wife has a warm breakfast for 

 them all ready, before a bright fire. Such is country life, 

 and such is the price paid for manly strength and female 

 health and red cheeks. 



He used to exclaim in his burdened moments: 



" O Marshfield by the sea, by the sea! " 



Hear him describe a morning hour on this estate by the 

 wide sea-meadows: 



"It is morning, and a morning sweet and fresh and 

 delightful. Everybody knows the morning, in its meta- 

 phorical sense, applied to so many objects and on so many 

 occasions. The health, strength, and beauty of early years 

 lead us to call that period the ' morning of life.' Of a 

 lovely young woman we say she is ( bright as the morn- 

 ing,' and no one doubts why Lucifer is called ' son of the 

 morning.' But the morning itself, few people, inhabitants 



