Old Fenny 's Dead! 261 



doted," and yet to all the world it was typical of 

 perfect health. How did he know ? Of course I 

 asked ^him, and then the full discussion of the 

 color of the leaves, their comparative absence from 

 certain limbs, a smoothness or roughness of the 

 bark, a hundred matters others would never see, 

 yet plain as the printed page to him. Yet he was 

 unlearned. 



Was it the weather ? The moaning of the wind 

 in the pines, the swaying of the meadow-grasses, 

 the rippling of the river's flow, the color of the 

 mill-pond's surface, the quiet or the song of many 

 birds, the hum of bees or flutter of butterflies ; 

 these had their meaning, and another "sign"' that 

 he correctly interpreted was the condition of the 

 atmosphere. Would I know if it would rain to- 

 morrow, Fenny could tell. However black the 

 clouds ; ay, even if it sprinkled at the time, if he 

 said, " Leave your umbrella behind," I should 

 have done so. Yet he was unlearned. 



Alas ! Old Penny's dead, and I must ramble 

 alone or with the scientist. Pardon me, you who 

 have knowledge to explain away the world : Old 

 Penny's dead, and I have lost much. 



