THE WITCH-HAZEL BOMBARDMENT 





October 2oth 



NE by one the lingering wild flowers 

 have succumbed to the frosts ; a 

 few of the hardy asters being the 

 only reminders of the regal glory 

 of the October copses. 



But though the blighting breath 

 of the approaching winter is fast 

 quenching even these remnants of bloom, there is one 

 fresh blossom which shall abide to welcome "chill Nov- 

 ember," even as the dandelion welcomed May, and as- 

 the rose and the golden-rod welcomed June and Sep- 

 tember. The waving pennants of the witch-hazel, coil- 

 ed for weeks within their patient buds, are now swung 

 out from thousands of gray twigs in the copses, and 

 the underwoods are lit up with the yellow halo from 

 their myriads of fringy petals. 



These luminous blossoms are very well known to- 

 most dwellers in the country, but there is something 

 else going on there among the twigs which few observ- 

 ers have suspected. It is a mischievous haunt out there 

 among the witch-hazels about this time. I shall never 

 forget the caper it played upon me years ago. 



I had been attracted by a bush which showed an un- 



