192 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



by the lavish dews of earlier twilights. 

 Seeing this, the jealous East Wind starts 

 from the ocean, follows the incoming 

 tide, and rakes heavy salt drift over the 

 marshes, pelting the land with sharp- 

 angled rain, wrestling with the trees 

 until their joints crack, bending the 

 supple to the ground, tearing the stiff 

 and aged limb from limb, beating the 

 striped apples down, mangling the 

 fields of ripened corn with juggernaut 

 wheels, cutting rough channels in the 

 ploughed hillsides, swelling the river 

 until it washes threateningly around 

 the mill house. Autumn, drenched, 

 overpowered, dismayed, her fabric 

 soaked, despoiled, hides until the East 

 Wind has spent his rage. Back creeps 

 the South Wind, keeping well toward 

 the west for shelter, dries the shivering 

 ground, and for a week brings retro- 

 spective glimpses. 



