196 THE FRIENDSHIP OF NATURE 



the sound Autumn picks up her web, 

 repairing the threads the wind has 

 torn, but she may not replace them all, 

 for rain has soaked away the freshest 

 hues of her best dyes. The dewberry, 

 trailing down the sandy roadbank, 

 crimsons and bronzes, then brightens 

 near the tip, glowing and paling like 

 splinters of molten steel. The black 

 birch pales, then yellows, until it 

 reaches gold, in company with the rock- 

 maple. The scarlet and pin oaks wear 

 rich enamel, and the black oak is 

 drenched with burgundy. On steep 

 hillsides, the maple-leaved cornel takes 

 a deep raspberry tone, the leaves of 

 the wild roses redden to bronze, and, 

 curling, show bunches of shining red 

 berries, and the eglantine wears her 

 necklace of oval coral beads. 



Every bit of earth and rock and 

 sand swarms Vv^ith Compositae. The 



