AN OLD ROAD. 57 



a bunch of bushes, for instance, covered 

 with black, shiny, pear-shaped berries, very 

 numerous, but very small. They would do 

 moderately well in default of better. An- 

 other patch, perhaps but a few rods re- 

 moved, bore large globular berries, less 

 glossy than the others, but still black. 

 These, as we expressed it, " filled up " 

 much faster than the others, though not 

 nearly so " thick." Blue berries (not blue- 

 berries, but blue huckleberries) were com- 

 mon enough, and we knew one small clus- 

 ter of plants, the fruit of which was white, 

 a variety that I have since found noted by 

 Doctor Gray as very rare. Unhappily, this 

 freak made so little impression upon me as 

 a boy that while I am clear as to the fact, 

 and feel sure of the pasture, I have no dis- 

 tinct recollection of the exact spot where 

 the eccentric bushes grew. I should like 

 to know whether they still persist. Gray's 

 Manual, by the way, makes no mention of 

 the blue varieties, but lays it down suc- 

 cinctly that the fruit of Gaylussacia re- 

 sinosa is black. 



The difference we cared most about, how- 

 ever, related not to color, shape, or size, 



