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THE FANTASIES OF FERNS 



ever these interrupt the line of march, and gather 

 about the hollows between the boulders piled by 

 glacial force. Each fox-lair becomes a fairy grotto, 

 and we are no longer in New England woods, 

 but in an enchanted forest of Romance Land. 



"Where nimble fay and pranksome elf 

 Flash vaguely past at every turn, 



Or, weird and wee, sits Puck himself 

 With legs akimbo on a Fern !" 



We certainly owe a 

 debt of love to the half 

 dozen Evergreen 

 Ferns of woods and 

 open. Upon them, 

 in many places 

 where neither Lau- 

 rel nor Hemlocks 

 grow, devolves the 

 wearing of the Magi- 

 cian's green gage 

 above the white -spread 

 lists of Winter, where 

 Frost holds tourney, challeng- 

 ing all to deadly combat, and 



A few steps more! Stand- 



