96 IN SILENT WOODS 



ger, a bit of aftermath Winterberries, a Witch 

 Hazel pod a sprig of Cedar or of Hemlock re- 

 placed the flower. 



"The coons and foxes that hole up in woods," 

 he continued, "sort of keep to the edges, and al- 

 ways go out field or along the rivers to feed. Even 

 the kind o' hawks that set their nests in the tops 

 o' the big trees, and the little warbling birds and 

 two kinds o' thrushes that build low, seem in a hurry 

 to be off when nesting and molting 's over. Take 

 me now; I could n't live away from woods, but then, 

 again, to live in 'em would be too solemn. Ye 

 can't see what 's comin', only what 's been by and 

 left tracks. As far as huntin' goes, that 's fair 

 enough; but for livin', it 's right down discouragin'. 

 You 've got to see ahead. For posies now it 's dif- 

 ferent, though there 's heaps o' wood -bred kinds 

 that straggle out into clearin's, or mebbe stay on 

 when the woods air cleaned above 'em, that seem 

 to do first-rate. But there 's others that are n't 

 the same unless you go up in the woods to see 'em. 

 Mebbe they 'd grow just as big, or bigger even, in 

 dooryards, but they look homesick and strange. Af- 

 ter they're once teched something 's gone from 'em. 

 If ye want to learn wood posies ye must do it in 

 the woods. 



