Chapter XIV 



IN WINTER 



THROUGHOUT this northern cHme of 

 ours, winter would seem indeed an 

 entirely unpropitious time for the 

 study of life in nature. 



And yet those to whom the tender ^^call 

 of the wild" comes seductively at every 

 season have found to their joy that field 

 and forest are never altogether desolate, 

 even in the bleakest weather, or amidst the 

 heaviest ice and snow. 



For, in spite of these, earth still remains 

 bound to sum^mer by many a golden 

 link — each as subtle and lovely as the silken 

 skein that kept Theseus in touch with 

 Ariadne while he braved the black labyrinth 

 of the ]Minotaur; and each but the more 

 delightful when difficult to find. 



It is probably true that the tracing of 

 these hidden and elusive ties in winter is 

 never easy. 



[181] 



