A SPRING RELISH 



pebbles and sun-baked banks they cover 

 and blot out ! They give eyes to the 

 fields ; they give dimples and laughter ; 

 they give light and motion. Running wa- 

 ter ! What a delightful suggestion the 

 words always convey ! One's thoughts and 

 sympathies are set flowing by them ; they 

 unlock a fountain of pleasant fancies and 

 associations in one's memory ; the imagina- 

 tion is touched and refreshed. 



March water is usually clean, sweet wa- 

 ter ; every brook is a trout -brook, a moun- 

 tain brook ; the cold and the snow have 

 supplied the condition of a high latitude ; 

 no stagnation, no corruption, comes down- 

 stream now as on a summer freshet. Win- 

 ter comes down, liquid and repentant. In- 

 deed, it is more than water that runs then : 

 it is frost subdued ; it is spring triumphant. 

 No obsolete watercourses now. The larger 

 creeks seek out their abandoned beds, re- 

 turn to the haunts of their youth, and lin- 

 ger fondly there. The muskrat is adrift, 

 but not homeless ; his range is vastly ex- 

 tended, and he evidently rejoices in full 

 streams. Through the tunnel of the meadow- 

 mouse the water rushes as through a pipe ; 

 and that nest of his, that was so warm and 

 61 



