THE COMING OF SPRING 9 



unfold rapidly, is the very prince of modulators, and 

 does nothing jarringly. 



Time o' Year rejoined us in the lane with its 

 grass -divided wheel tracks. On the right the bank 

 sloped to the trout stream; on the left it was part 

 of a rocky, wooded hillside. The bushes were 

 almost leafless and the usually narrow stream was 

 again trespassing on the lowlands. 



"It might be November," I said, leaving Nell 

 and going down to the water's edge. 



"No, it might not: look!" said Time o' Year, 

 jerking his head backward over his shoulder. 



There, almost at my feet, unharmed by the 

 drift of the stream, was a Skunk Cabbage, its 

 thick, green leaves so far developed as to show 

 that it had been long in bloom. Beside it grew 

 a stalk of False Hellebore, with its crumpled leaves 

 fast unfolding, while underneath the spotted twin- 

 leaves of a few plants of Adder's-Tongue bore the 

 stalks that held each its single yellow flower. 



"While we were watching for Spring on the 

 hill-tops, she has crept in by the waterways and 

 entrenched her forces like a good commander, and 

 yet as often as she does it, we are always surprised," 

 I said; but my companion had again disappeared. 

 Yes, and before one can half realize the coming of 



