A MOUNTAIN POND 91 



I had been at his house a few evenings be- 

 fore to see his son, who had come home from 

 Biltmore to collect certain rare local plants 

 the mountain holly being one of them 

 for the Vanderbilt herbarium. The mystery 

 was cleared, but it may be imagined how 

 taken aback I was when this venerable rus- 

 tic stranger threw a Latin name at me. 



In truth, however, botany and Latin names 

 might almost be said to be in the air at 

 Highlands. A villager met me in the street, 

 one day, and almost before I knew it, we 

 were discussing the specific identity of the 

 small yellow lady's-slippers, whether there 

 were two species, or, as my new acquaintance 

 believed, only one, in the woods round about. 

 At another time, having called at a very 

 pretty unpainted cottage, all the prettier 

 for the natural color of the weathered shin- 

 gles, I remarked to the lady of the house 

 upon the beauty of Azalea Vaseyi, which I 

 had noticed in several dooryards, and which 

 was said to have been transplanted from the 

 woods. I did not understand why it was, I 

 told her, but I could n't find it described in 

 my Chapman's Flora. " Oh, it is there, I 

 am sure it is," she answered ; and going into 



