The Height of Summer 141 



ing stems, that clutch by the fine little spines un 

 der their leaves and pointing down along their 

 stems, and so climb up in the midst of other 

 plants, and fairly &quot; cleave &quot; their way to sunlight. 

 Some of these cleavers are lovely in their delicate 

 pale flowering, as well as attractive in the starry 

 arrangement of their leaves. The rich crimson 

 flowers of the thimble-berry or Scotch-cap abound 

 in the mountain thickets. The bittersweet is in 

 blossom, and in the woods the two twin flowers, 

 Linnaea and Mitchella, and the creeping snow- 

 berry in dark recesses. Also many an orchid is 

 out, and Venus s looking-glass is seen, so ex 

 travagantly misnamed. Of course the hearty 

 yarrow is busy on the roadsides and in the yards, 

 and the ground-nut s pink blossoms are swinging 

 from the shrubs they climb over. The Indian- 

 pipe is lifting its curious flower, a piece of sculp 

 ture that perishes, but as well worth the artist s 

 use as the acanthus. Thus Nature is full of joy 

 in these days of heat good days, wherein life is 

 embodied and pursued with constant energy. 



Now when summer reigns so royally, the 

 mountains and the seaside are rivals in their at 

 tractions. The winds that sweep the mountain 

 tops are not like those that come up from the 

 sea, bringing the strengthening breath of the brine, 

 the breath that has blown over the waves of the 



