Queen of Moccasin-Flo^wers 65 



while the earth was frozen and safe, and had built a 

 homely hedge-fence through the meadow, probably to 

 keep the cattle pasturing hereabout away from the 

 dangerous bog. This fence was the only visible trace 

 of man. In its tumbled-down and overgrown condition, 

 it became a part of Nature's self, and added to the 

 picturesqueness of the field. Although RafinevSque 

 says "that he hates the sight of fences like the In- 

 dians," to me the hedge-fence is one of the wildest and 

 most primitive of forest barriers. Indeed, it must have 

 originated with the veritable wild man himself. 



I was tempted on and still farther on through the 

 meadow, by the brilliant crimson-purple blossoms of 

 the Pitcher Plant, or Side-Saddle Flowers, so named 

 on account of the hard shells of the stigma of these 

 flowers resembling the padded cushions of a lady's an- 

 cient side-saddle. This cushion was known as the 

 "pillion." The more common name in this locaHty 

 for these flowers is St. Jacob' s-Dippers and Dumb- 

 Watches, children playing with the hard shells of the 

 stigmas left after the purple petals have fallen, calling 

 them watches. The convex surface of the stigma does 

 indeed resemble the face of a watch, although there are 

 no hands to point the hour. Gay blossoms of Fleur- 

 de-lis flaunted their gaudy petals, and many times de- 

 ceived me by making me imagine that I spied the 

 Purple-Fringed Orchises in the distance, waving amid 

 the tall grasses. 



Here I dreamed away an hour or more, following 



out some little paths, worn perhaps by the muskrats or 

 5 



