IX 



A COMPOSITE FAMILY 



UGUST ushers in the reign of 

 the Composites, whose 

 realm, wide as the land, is 

 ,entered by many ways. 

 Every road that escapes the 

 annual "turnpiking" and 

 fence -clearing, so dear to the 

 heart of s'lectmen, becomes a 

 highway through it, while Sun- 

 flower Lane is the direct passage to 

 the Palace of the golden -crowned mon- 

 archs, where, even before July has left, Joe 

 Pye, of robust stature, takes his place as chamber- 

 lain, with Boneset for court physician, Black -eyed 

 Susan, jolly though not in her first youth, for 

 lady-in-waiting, Dent-de-lion, scattering gold coins 

 upon the grass, as chief almoner, Ironweed for 

 armorer, and Fragrant Everlasting as perfumer; for 

 the Composite Tribe, it will be noticed, are very 

 old-fashioned and conservative in the matter of 

 perfumes, seldom venturing beyond the herby odors. 



