38 ALONG THE WATERWAYS 



parent haze of color envelops the whole, is to 

 confess the effect unpaintable. To pick the rigid 

 stalks, topped by the crown -shaped petals, that 

 droop and melt away after the fashion of all flowers 

 of a day, is to acknowledge that this Iris must surely 

 be seen in its home to be known in anything but 

 outline. If many flowers of wood and field lose 

 quality away from their surroundings, the herba- 

 ceous flowers of moist lands and waterways do so 

 in far greater degree. 



The Water Lilies, however, of which three va- 

 rieties can be found within a day's drive of Lone- 

 town, may be safely gathered, and floated in a deep 

 bowl ; they will open and close for several successive 

 days. But the deep green and carmine -lined leaves 

 that enhance their beauty curl up as soon as their 

 under surface dries. 



One day in late July I was searching the margin 

 of the forge mill-pond for Lily-pads to photograph, 

 having as yet found that morning only the half 

 erect leaves of the yellow variety, whose bumptious 

 flowers look more like large, leathery Buttercups 

 than Lilies. Seeing on the opposite side of the 

 pond a mass of the floating leaves I wanted, I 

 worked my way around to them, only to find that 

 they were ragged and torn, that all the flowers and 



