2OO Walks in New England 



gatherings of cloud and fog and mist, fog sweep 

 ing in along the coast and hiding the sea from the 

 shore, mists rising from the streams and the marshes, 

 dry as they seemed, farther inland ; a day of lower 

 ing clouds, low descending on the hillsides, veiling 

 the view of the earth from the mountains, full of 

 gray clinging vapours and dripping trees and a 

 mysterious consciousness of change ; then a day 

 of showers and of sunlight breaking through the 

 clouds now and again, settling into quiet rains, 

 with an occasional burst of a cloud in swift descent 

 all at once, which filled a night and a day and a 

 night again ; then in the &quot; wee sma hours ayont 

 the twaF &quot; the morning star hanging as a sign 

 in the thinning clouds, which letting fall their gen 

 tle burthen melted away and dispersed, until the 

 auroral glory began, and the sun shone on a re 

 newed earth, and the west wind arose with the 

 sun and tossed the patient and refreshed trees, 

 strewing with leaves the woodland and the city 

 streets, and the line storm was over. It is one 

 of the most admirable events of New England 

 meteorology, and old folks say that this used to 

 be a regular thing until the weather bureau was 

 constituted to cold-shoulder dear tradition, and 

 relegate the equinoctial to the realm of fable. No 

 such thing! Is there anything fabulous about the 

 four-days storm that began on Sunday ? We trow 



