THE COMING OF SPRING 3 



as not yanking the rest up by the roots to dry 'em 

 into hay. Yes, I 've caught 'em at it and seen it 

 done ! 



"Sometimes they say they want my flowers to 

 paint 'em into pictures. 'Paint away,' sez I, 

 'they 're here ready to sit for ye from frost -leaving 

 to frost -coming, but look out ye don't spoil the 

 pictures God 's filled the earth with, in so doin'.' 



"The names they give 'em, too! Long enough 

 to make a man think the woods is full of diseases 

 like what the town doctor fetches over to the hill- 

 top folks when they have colic!" 



By "hilltop folks" he meant the summer people 

 a half day's ride away, who were the bane of his 

 usually placid life. It was they who, eager for 

 "local color," insisted in intruding upon his cabin, 

 snapping their impertinent little cockney cameras at 

 everything within range. Asking questions as to 

 where he obtained his delicate fishing rod, how he 

 learned the art of tying flies of original design; also 

 probing his past and present hermit way of life 

 ruthlessly. Why had he let his farm on the hilltop 

 go into other hands? Was it still his, or had he 

 given it up for taxes? 



Alack ! Why is it that money and good breed- 

 ing are accumulated in an inverse ratio? The peo- 



