OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



have here at our doors. Here, before our opened eyes 

 and unstopped ears, here is variety unending; here 

 are new worlds to conquer. Never are two days alike ; 

 and from that first moment when the humming birds 

 waken us until the crickets' merry chorus sings us to 

 sleep, a constant succession of problems stirs us to new 

 effort, a constant succession of achievements brings us 



joy." .'.'. :"". : ; 



With what real affection we contemplate a certain 

 seedling elm, which ten years ago stood even with our 

 eyes but now swings branches thirty feet above us. 

 Those maples which we planted close to the house and 

 watched anxiously through two summers are now so 

 splendidly flourishing that an acquaintance, seeing the 

 place for the first time, asked how we managed to build 

 the house without injuring those fine trees. We 

 treasured that compliment. Gone are the wires which 

 held them; gone are the ragged ends of the branches 

 so much appreciated as lookouts by the hummers; and 

 in their place stand symmetrical masses of greenery. 



As for trials and disappointments, they only add 



20 



