VICTOR, THE SON OF AUDUBON 75 



open spot forming a plantation was smiling in the luxuri- 

 ance of a summer harvest. The farmer seemed to stand 

 in admiration of the spectacle; the trees of his orchards 

 bowed their branches, as if anxious to restore to their 

 Mother Earth the fruit with which they were laden; the 

 flocks leisurely ruminated as they lay on their grassy beds; 

 and the genial warmth of the season seemed inclined to 

 favor their repose. 



" The free, single-hearted Kentuckian, bold, erect, and 

 proud of his Virginian descent, had, as usual, made arrange- 

 ments for celebrating the day of his country's independ- 

 ence. The whole neighborhood joined with one consent. 

 !N"o personal invitation was required where every one was 

 welcomed by his neighbor, and, from the Governor to the 

 guider of the plow, all met with light hearts and merry 

 faces. 



" It was indeed a beautiful day: the bright sun rode in 

 the clear blue heavens; the gentle breezes wafted around 

 the odors of the gorgeous flowers; the little birds sang their 

 sweetest songs in the woods, and the fluttering insects 

 danced in the sunbeams. Columbia's sons and daughters 

 seemed to have grown younger that morning. For a whole 

 week or more many servants and some masters had been 

 busily engaged in clearing an area. The undergrowth had 

 been carefully cut down, the low boughs lopped off, and the 

 grass alone, verdant and gay, remained to carpet the sylvan 

 pavilion. Now the wagons were seen slowly moving along 



