FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 63 



And this is what the groat leader of this 

 school considers an immaterial item ; the 

 improvements upon land are the buildings. 

 Well, what these buildings cost, I do not 

 know. People live in some of them and 

 house their cattle in others. I am quite sure 

 that upon some farms the cattle have the 

 better time. I have been in three or four of 

 the houses. When I started out last summer 

 I thought that I wanted an &quot;abandoned 

 farm.&quot; I did not take one. 



But this is a side issue. Did you hear 

 the frogs to-day ? Not the great croakers 

 with their hoarse voices calling out strange 

 threats to frighten small children, but the 

 musical little fellows, singing in all the 

 swampy places that Spring has come ! 

 &quot; Spring has come ! &quot; &quot; Spring has come ! &quot; 

 I heard them first less than two weeks ago, 

 and their cheery note was as inspiring as 

 that of the birds. 



And the birds are here too, the blue 

 bird and the song sparrow, the robin and the 

 red-winged blackbird, and a host of others, 

 making merry early in the morning and 

 late in the day, and I dare say going a-court- 

 ing as young folks will. About the house, 

 Chanticleer and Mrs. Chanticleer, or the 

 Mesdames Chanticleer, have changed their 



