106 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



wood, where many of the young leaves are 

 yet so small as to permit the eye to penetrate 

 between them into the heart of the forest. 

 And in return, I cut a good forked branch 

 of the witch-hazel to test its traditional 

 virtues, and trim it to the satisfaction of my 

 companion. Is it to be wondered at, that in 

 the hands of the seeress thus equipped, it 

 shortly pointed toward the centre of the 

 earth, upon a spot beneath which doubtless 

 pulses a restless spring, eager to be released ? 

 Far be it from us to suggest a distrust of 

 such an indication, by trying to pry into 

 the heart of Nature s secrets. Much more 

 proper was it to show our loyalty by erect 

 ing upon the spot a monument consisting of 

 the wand itself. 



The convenient path winds around the 

 side of the hill, here a scarcely marked 

 track, and there deeply gullied by the late 

 winter torrents, but now dry and irregularly 

 strewn with loose stones. At length the 

 bolder rocks come into view upon our right, 

 and leaving the path we climb from head 

 land to headland until we are upon the very 

 summit, with the world of town and city, 

 farm and forest spread at our feet. 



The long-wished-for rain has not come, 

 and the Last year s leaves are dry, and miles 



