The Rambles of an Idler 



and fro directly across the narrow path between 

 the great oaks near the stile. I confess to shud- 

 dering when I saw it, and father did not walk 

 bravely, to say the least. Then we came to a 

 stand when a great owl hooted. I wanted to 

 turn back, but father said No, and yet did not 

 move forward. What would have happened I 

 do not know, but just then the moon shone out 

 more brightly and we saw that it was a great 

 cobweb covered with dew. Then father chuckled 

 to himself and we came back to the house. I 

 am glad it proved no ' stubborn unlaid ghost,' 

 as Milton has it, but I fear Jane can never be 

 convinced." 



It is never a serious task to find a Garden of 

 Eden. Only our unreasonableness blinds us 

 when the search is made. No flaming swords 

 warn us to keep away from Earth's prettiest 

 spots, and if Adam had a nobler tree than my 

 meadow hickory under which to nest, or a fairer 

 outlook than the long line of wooded bluff con- 

 fronting me, then he had more than he could 

 appropriate. There was no richer green then 

 than Nature now provides, nor any more grace- 

 ful or intricate an arrangement of bloom and 



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