72 Trails to Woods and Waters 



chalice of gold above, me and the sweet flag 

 and the cattail again put on their green. 

 Then water grasses and willows blossom, and 

 my banks are fragrant and sweet with the 

 glad new life. 



" Late in June the water lily unfolds and 

 makes fragrant my deep pools. Then the 

 wood duck, the sandpiper, the woodcock and 

 the bittern lead forth their young, and my 

 banks are a nursery for the fowls of the air. 



" Little children, too, love to sport in my 

 shallows, and catch shiners and polly-wogs. 

 Men and boys seek me and dangle their lines 

 in my depths, angling for my speckled trout, 

 and the whole countryside for many miles 

 around is glad because they know Willow 

 Brook. 



" Many a great lesson of life I teach, if men 

 would only heed my teachings. 



" I teach the lesson of purity and cleanli- 

 ness as no other thing in nature does. To- 

 day you may fill me with unclean things, but 

 to-morrow I will run as sweet and pure as 

 ever. No matter how bright the stars are 



