132 



SOME HUMBLE ORCHIDS 



rating into an intangible powder, half dust, half 

 wood -mold. 



On this bank, peeping incautiously from be- 

 tween Bellworts and the black stalks of a little 

 forest of damp and only half -opened fronds of 

 Maidenhair Ferns, was a single Moccasin Flower 

 of unusual size and height, its pouch 

 of an almost crimson hue. 



It stood like an outpost, com- 

 manding a view both up and down 

 the shady road. I straightway picked 

 it, carefully wrapped its stem and 

 leaves in damp moss, and hid it in 

 the depths of the chaise -top; 

 for, thought I, if, to-morrow 

 being Saturday, any of the 

 people coming down from the 

 back country 

 spy this flower, 

 somebody will 

 surely put two 

 and two together, 

 follow the trail into 

 the woods , and 

 make the whole 

 colony prisoners. And 



