THE CITY YARD 



six feet high, and painted white or drab. In New 

 England they make a color that is used or found 

 nowhere else, I believe; a blend of brown and 

 lead that must have been inherited from the garb 

 of the Puritans, hence. Is as far from joy as colors 

 can be; and this doleful hue, a stain of original 

 sin, they delight to smear upon their fences. It 

 may be the contemplation of this color, In the 

 fences of Cambridge, that produces such frantic 

 outbreaks of conduct In Harvard, for aught we 

 know. But as you go southward you see less of 

 this melancholy, and an attempt to simulate 

 gaiety with buff or whitewash. If you find It pos- 

 sible to agree with the man next door, or If he 

 consents to drown his offspring, you can tear 

 down the structure; or. If a partition is really nec- 

 essary, you can plant box, or privet, or even a 

 row of lilacs; but, be sure of your man, for he 

 may have saved an urchin child from the sac- 

 rifice, or he may own a large and vehement dog 

 of the breed that delights to leap over obstruc- 

 tions and riot over forbidden premises. There 

 will be a sad to-do, in such a case, over the up- 

 rooting of the hedge and the reversion to boards ; 

 but — whisper ! You can let the hedge remain, 

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