THE FANTASIES OF FERNS 213 



lings, Dogwoods and high Oaks shaded it heavily, 

 while among the underbrush dead boughs gro- 

 tesquely decked with lichens had fallen picturesquely 

 here and there. Between and over these hung 

 great fronds of Maidenhair, tier above tier, in suc- 

 culent density. 



From the road the grouping was quite perfect, 

 the Ferns were fully developed and all in the deep 

 shadow that they love; but with enough refracted 

 light upon the fronds to perfectly reveal their detail. 

 To lead Nell from the ditch and adjust the camera 

 was a moment's work, but how about the wind? 

 It was at that moment whirling stray straws along 

 the road with unpromising vigor. 



"Is one permitted, by the gracious Upholder - 

 of- Nature -as -it -is, to remove obstacles before a 

 landscape, or perhaps I should call this composi- 

 tion * still life'?" asked Flower Hat laughingly, as 

 she proceeded to pull up some weeds and break 

 off a dead bush that blurred the foreground. 



"I only wish that it might be still anything for 

 ten seconds, for that is the time I must have to 

 make a clear picture in this shade," I said, look- 

 ing to see from what quarter the wind came. 



A few moments of holding out a handkerchief 

 settled that the wind blew from the west and came 



