THE FANTASIES OF FERNS 2OQ 



graceful poise of this Fern become evident. It 

 should be viewed from below in order to appreciate 

 the sense of perfect balance and the effect of light 

 and atmosphere. All the summer through I had 

 tried to carry away a picture of it as it lives, but 

 it still evaded my efforts. 



As we came down the mountain, carefully 

 creeping slowly from rock to rock for the pit- 

 falls of that delectable place are many, and one 

 foot may be on firm ground, while the other leg 

 suddenly sinks into a hidden hole which swallows 

 it to the knee my eye rested on a feathery green 

 tuft clinging to the side of a dripping rock, the 

 bunch of leaves protruding through a bit of ragged 

 bark that was in its way. I hastened toward it, 

 slipped and then fairly coasted down the treach- 

 erous Moss to the object in question, to find it 

 a plant of delicate Maidenhair Spleenwort, with 

 shiny, purple-black stems and small, oval, ever- 

 green leaflets a Fern so exquisite in its fragile 

 grace that it almost seems out of place set amid 

 the rigors of the New England woods. Why had 

 I never discovered it here before? In fact, I had 

 not found it within many miles of Tree -bridge. 

 Simply because the overhanging rock concealed it 

 wholly, and the Mosses gave it color -protection 



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