MAY. 215 



ing waters of a miniature lake gave animation to the land- 

 scape, and became a scene of rustic sport for many a youthful 

 angler. In front of the cottage was an irregular grassy slope, 

 extending down to the roadside, and wholly unenclosed. 

 Through this natural lawn a narrow footpath, leading ob- 

 liquely from the street to the doorstep, had been worn by the 

 feet of passengers ; tufts of wild shrubbery grew here and 

 there about the rocks that projected from the surface of the 

 soil, and the sweet fern diffused its odors within a rood of the 

 cottage windows. In the evening a small herd of cows 

 might be seen quietly ruminating under a rugged old oak, 

 that stood about thirty paces from the house. 



In the month of May this place was a favorite resort for all 

 the children of the village, on account of the multitude and 

 variety of wild flowers that grew there, and the many pleas- 

 ant arbors afforded by the woods that overshadowed the bor- 

 ders of the lake. On these green hillsides they might often 

 be seen weaving chains of the stems of the dandelion, or 

 stringing white and blue violets upon a thread, with which 

 they made garlands and necklaces to add to their own simple 

 apparel. Later in the season old and young resorted hither 

 to gather berries that grew abundantly in these grounds and 

 the neighboring pastures. Many a May queen has been 

 crowned with the trailing evergreens that abounded in these 

 wild lands, and covered the meadows with verdure in the 

 depth of winter ; and the children have returned home with 

 baskets full of checkerberries and garlanded with early spring 

 flowers. 



There was something about the whole aspect of this place 

 that was unaccountably delightful. Every one who visited 

 it felt inspired with a mysterious sense of cheerfulness and 

 pensive delight, that could hardly be explained, as there were 

 in the same village many magnificent country seats, with 

 highly ornamented grounds that failed in awakening any such 

 emotions. Here nothing had ever been done to add a single 

 ornament to the face of nature, but in all parts of the land- 

 scape there was a beauty that seemed unattainable by art. It 

 became evident at last that these groves and pastures must be 



