THE LOOM OF AUTUMN 211 



Nature lets loose her fancy to show 

 what she can do, setting at naught 

 man's wisdom, and mocking his fore- 

 casts and his calendars. 



When October comes, the farmer 

 promptly takes out his air-tight stove 

 and plants it in his sitting-room, put- 

 ting therein a fire of coals to stifle out 

 what life remains in him after the 

 summer toil. When early twilights, 

 more than the cold, draw the house- 

 hold around its hearth-heart, the logs 

 piece out the scant day with their 

 treasured surplus of sunlight. Nature 

 draws out and gratifies each sense with 

 colour, perfume, heat, and all the while 

 the wood juices whistle a little tune, 

 learned long ago in sapling days, from 

 the peeping marsh frogs. When pine 

 cones add their incense to the flames, 

 with it returns the forest perfume, and 

 if we close the eyes, the thoughts go 



