ESCAPED FROM GARDENS 67 



Then, when in middle May the Lilacs put on 

 all their bravery of bloom in mass of amethyst - 

 hued flowers, which by their heavy odor tell of 

 their presence far down the highway, as well as to 

 greedy bees that fly across -lots, voices are heard 

 around the Lilac House, feet press the grass, and 

 again human hands make nosegays of the flowers. 



It may be that the visitor is some one who 

 knows the place as I do, who goes back each sea- 

 son to see young Spring following the river, to sit 

 on the hill -slope and feel the ground silence, or to 

 stand before the embowered ruin, listening to the 

 massive music that the bees drone out, which 

 seems like Lilac perfume turned to sound. Or the 

 visitor may be merely a stranger, who, driving down 

 the road, pauses a moment through desire for a 

 bouquet. 



These sturdy Lilacs have kith and kin near and 

 far. Throughout all Lonetown no ruined chimney 

 is without its Lilac bushes; and when Lilacs ap- 

 pear without a trace of a habitation, if you search 

 among the tangled undergrowth, you will surely 

 find a heap of stones, the opening to a cellar in 

 what seemed at first only a bank of earth, or at 

 least the stoned margin of a well or hillside spring - 

 hole. The Lilacs are plain to see; but what hum- 



