CHAPTER X 



BRINGING FORTH FRUIT 



October 



** It was autumn, and incessant 



Piped tlie quail from stocks and leaves, 

 And, like living coals, the apples 

 Burned among the withering leaves." 



October is the chief fruit month of the year. In 

 the woods the Avalnuts, chestnuts, and acorns rattle 

 to the ground in the frosty mornings. Along the 

 roadside, hedges, and old fences the bitter-sweet opens 

 its stiff red and orange cups, while hazel-nuts drop 

 from their protecting cases. The corn stands in 

 shocks up and down the fields, and heaps of the 

 newly-husked ears glitter golden in the sun. 



The leaves have withered on squash and pumpkin 

 vines, but the great bright globes of their fruit lie still 

 ungathered. The last watermelons and citrons, 

 their deep green streaked and mottled with white, 

 are being carried to market. There are more ruddy 

 apples than leaves on the trees, while the fruit stores 

 are full of peaches, plums, grapes, and pears. 



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