176 THE CLERK OF THE WOODS 



of standing in the open, as they had done 

 in my day. And between the competi- 

 tion of the pines and the knives and axes 

 of collectors of Christmas greenery, they 

 were nigh to extermination. By and by, 

 however, before many years, the pines will 

 fall under the axe. Then, I dare say, the 

 old holly roots will have their turn again. 

 Then, too, the checkerberry vines will enjoy 

 a few years of fruitf ulness. So the wheel of 

 fortune goes round, all the world over, in 

 the wood no less than in the city. There 

 is no scotching it. As well try to scotch 

 the earth itself. All things are at seesaw. 



" They say the lion and the lizard keep 

 The courts where Jamshyd gloried and drank deep ; 



And Bahrain, that great hunter the wild ass 

 Stamps o'er his head, but cannot break his sleep." 



If such things have happened, if Nineveh 

 and Babylon flourished and came to naught, 

 why wonder at the decline and fall of Old 

 Colony berry pastures ? 



