68 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



or under the water in every direction, on 

 what mad errand may they sometime go, 

 if once the native instinct get the bettor of 

 our imperfect control ! Perhaps it may grow 

 to be an everyday matter, and safe experi 

 ence may remove all apprehensions ; but 

 the old-fashioned among us, while accepting 

 gladly all the aid which this new servant 

 is bringing us, cannot quite feel sure that 

 lie is not merely biding his time for a day 

 of reckoning when all scores shall be paid 

 off. 



I have actually found it, the mayflower, 

 I mean. This morning I made another 

 expedition, not so long as that of a few 

 days ago, but more successful than that. It 

 is true that the clusters of blossoms were 

 small, and that there were more buds than 

 blossoms, and more vines than buds, but 

 nevertheless there were the delicate fragrant 

 pink blossoms in f t act, and one blossom con 

 tains the promise and potency of a world of 

 delight. The most trying experience of the 

 morning was the finding of a mile of wood 

 land freshly burned over, in the very heart 

 of what should have been my best foraging 

 ground. I saw the fire across the valley 

 two days ago, and I thought it was merely 

 that the fanners were engaged in burning 



