354 LEISURE-TIME STUDIES. 



order which reigns paramount in the vegetation around, adds 

 but a new sense to its loveliness. Nor may we miss enumer- 

 ating the tall poplars which grow around the mill, or the 

 dark green of the osiers which fringe its sides ; and the pol- 

 lard willows near, stirred by the gentlest of summer breezes, 

 show the gleaming silver white of their leaves for a moment, 

 and then relapse into their dark green once more. The 

 tiles of the mill-roof have become coated with lovely mosses 

 and lichens, which vary pleasantly the dull red to which the 

 lapse of time and the beating of the weather has turned the 

 originally bright hue of the roof. What would the artist do 

 without the lower forms of plant life ? Where, then, would 

 be the effects of green and grey and neutral tints he loves to 

 show on ruined tower, on stone fence, and on mill-roof and 

 wall ? And how deep should be one's sense of gratitude to 

 these lowest forms of life, in that they enhance that mysteri- 

 ous sense of the beautiful which cynics never tire of mock- 

 ing, but which, despite cold criticism, asserts its dominant 

 sway in the better part of our lives ! 



The great mill-wheel is silent to-day, and for many days 

 to come. As I passed the wheel-house this morning, I saw 

 the little stream of water which had escaped below the water- 

 gate playing in and out between the paddles of the wheel, 

 and I can hear the re-echo of this water-music from our rest- 

 ing-place by the river, so still and quiet is the air. Close by 

 the wheel-house exists the overflow-passage for the water, 

 down which most of the river is at present rushing ; its bulk 

 being swelled by a minor stream, which finds its way below 

 the mill into a pond serving the farm for varied purposes. 

 In this overflow-passage exists an iron grating, and from its 

 side a trough is led into a deep tank close by. The whole 

 arrangement was suggestive of one thing or subject only, 

 that subject being eels. I can discern a very small member 

 of that serpentine race of fishes making its way against the 

 stream, and one's thoughts immediately rush forward to 

 winter, when our river rolls along, swelled many times over 

 its present bulk, and containing, amidst its other treasures, 



