22 BOULDER REVERIES. 



once, and that for a single instant, amidst some 

 dead leaves, on a sprig of clover. As it rested, 

 motionless, the question arose, which was the 

 leaf which the wood nymph ? Thus was pro- 

 tective mimicry exemplified. 



The bloom of elder, of trailing arbutus, of 

 pond lilies how their sight and odor, espe- 

 cially the latter, recall the past ! When I see and 

 scent the elder blossoms I am a boy again, gath- 

 ering wild raspberries around old stumps and in 

 the angles of Virginia rail fences; gathering 

 wild berries with a heart full of hope, of long- 

 ing for a nobler, higher calling. 



When T see and smell arbutus blossoms I am 

 a youth, with hope still strong, but its twin 

 brother, ambition, stronger ; impelling me ever 

 "onward and upward"- a college youth, open- 

 ing day by day some new leaf of the great book 

 of nature conning its pages with renewing in- 

 terest and a growing love for its varied objects. 



When I pluck the white pond lilies and scent 

 their fragrance I am a man in years, if not in 

 deeds a man teaching or trying to teach child- 

 ish minds somewhat of nature's secrets. I am 



