70 Walks in New England 



Hepatica 



THE watchword of the day is Hepatica! 

 or it is Arbutus, or it is Saxifrage, or 

 possibly in some camps of Nature it may 

 be Dirca ! Awhile ago it was Pussy- Willow ; 

 pretty soon it will be Quaker Lady or Blue Violet. 

 These are peaceful tokens of speech, and even 

 the cruel lovers of beauty have them at their 

 tongues end. In the sweet new winds of the 

 west they are rare, this spring, but we have felt 

 them one should have only gracious thoughts 

 to match such words. But Nature bars none, 

 her gates are always open, and it rests with the 

 one who enters to be worthy or unworthy of her 

 intimacy. On the conscience and the heart of 

 the visitor it depends whether blessing or barren 

 ness comes. 



One may rightly weigh for no little time the 

 respective charms of the mayflower and the he- 

 patica. What can be more delicious than the 

 pink sweetness of the trailing arbutus, that ex 

 quisite bloom of mossy wildwood knolls, nestled 



