ON FIRST TRAIL OF PILGRIMS 89 



by the roadside and in the field, sending rich per- 

 fume across lots as a dare to us all, is Bouncing- 

 Bet. I cannot think of this amorous, buxom 

 beauty as having been allowed to come with a 

 shipload of serious, praying Pilgrims or any 

 later expedition of stern-visaged Puritans. I be^ 

 lieve she was a stow-away and when she did 

 reach New England danced blithely across the 

 gang plank and took up her abode wherever she 

 saw fit. Thus she does to-day. All over the Cape 

 she strays, a common roadside weed and a beauty 

 of the gardens at once. Out of this point where 

 the Pilgrim epic first touches our shores she 

 comes, with the memory of the visitor, a welcome 

 garnish to the long sandy trail once trod by 

 Myles Standish and his armor-clad scouts. 



