Windy Bush. 115 



The wood-peewee was right in his prognostics ; 

 it was torrid at noontide. The cows in the distant 

 pastures gathered in the shade of scattered trees, 

 and in many ways it is well to take our cue from 

 other forms of life. Many a despised creature, 

 even a worm, can give us useful hints, if we but 

 heed their methods. A nap at mid-day may prove 

 more refreshing than a night-long slumber. I was 

 painfully envious of the far-off cows until, like 

 them, I curled in the shade of a hill-side chestnut, 

 and then how trivial a matter was the blazing sun ! 

 Whether a-dreaming or awake, it matters not, but 

 the distant landscape was a source of joy. Bow- 

 man's Hill and many a mile of intervening 

 meadow spread out before me, and what a laden 

 table at which one's soul might feast ! We may 

 envy the eagle his all-searching gaze, but are con- 

 soled by feeling we can reach, in thought, beyond 

 the horizon. Whether hill or dale, it is but the 

 bird's resting-place ; but within the same bounds 

 is a home for more than a mere body. Weary 

 now, I halt in the restoring shade of a splendid 

 chestnut and wander, the while, among the far-off 

 hills. 



