The Rescue of an Old Place 



the only way to enjoy a prospective wil- 

 derness is to find one's blessedness in 

 being among the happy few who expect 

 nothing, and therefore can never have any 

 but agreeable surprises. This arch, which 

 perhaps will more appropriately take the 

 form of a lich-gate, is to be sculptured 

 with high reliefs of the woodchuck and 

 the field mouse, while the rose-bug and 

 the wire-worm are to find a prominent 

 place in the general decoration. This 

 architectural step has been suggested by 

 the appearance of a new enemy, which 

 has destroyed the last vestige of our confi- 

 dence in conifers, and is a new proof of 

 that perversity in trees to which I have 

 before reluctantly called attention. 



Early in July we noticed a tendency to 

 /S*f ^ droop in the leaders of some of the Pines 

 and Spruces, but concluded it might be 

 the dry hot weather which had affected 

 their uprightness. A week or two more 

 passed, and the new tassels of the year's 

 growth all began to turn yellow, and to 

 hang down disconsolately. We then sup- 

 posed that some one in passing might 

 have given the tops of the little trees an 

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