The Rescue of an Old Place 



through all the dry weather. Their tassels 

 stood up straight and stiff, of a clean 

 bright green, and, though so unpromising 

 to start with, they will probably in the end 

 leave the others far behind. Even the 

 Hemlocks, so troublesome on the 1 

 thrive in this low and sheltered spot, where 

 we have finally sent the worst of them for 

 repairs. I have been told, by one who 

 knows, that what the Hemlock cannot 

 abide is the March sun. which does mis- 

 chief, while the blaze of summer is harm- 

 less to it 



I was shown one day at the Arnold 

 Arboretum, near Boston, the north side 

 of a hill, steep and rocky, but clothed with 

 giant Hemlocks from its lofty summit to 

 the burbling beck at its base. No nobler 

 sight can be imagined. I entered this 

 forest at twilight, and I found it a temple, 

 solemn and silent The majestic trunks 

 rose from their rocky base at wide inter- 

 vals, climbing one above the other to the 

 crest of the lofty eminence they cro\\ 

 Their close-knit branches far overhead 

 formed a dense canopy through which the 

 failing light came dimly, as befits a tern- 

 162 



