OUR MOUNTAIN GARDEN 



The grass, for reasons best known to 

 itself, did not sprout, but the red elder- 

 berries probably for the contrary rea- 

 sons did, and one day, as I strayed 

 over the spot, my eye was arrested by 

 seeing the unfamiliar little seedlings all 

 up, wide awake, and ready for business. 

 I did not know what they were, but they 

 had that knowing look which good plants 

 always have the moment the first leaves 

 are above the ground, so I saved and 

 cherished them, I "pricked" them into 

 pots, as florists call it, put them in sun 

 and shade, fertilized, transplanted, and in 

 general fussed at them enough to have 

 killed anything but an elder, and, in fact, 

 did kill most of them. But a few lived 

 and grew big enough to reveal their iden- 

 tity, and I made a hedge of them around 

 the cottage porch, where they took hold 

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