FLOWERS. 15 



euphrasy, that tiny flower that derives its name of 

 eyebright, not from its beauty, though few lovers of 

 flowers behold it without brightening eyes, but from 

 its old reputation for " making old eyes young again/' 

 a reputation which, if Milton may be believed, is as 

 old as the days of Adam at least, for the Archangel, 

 about to guide our first parents' gaze into distant 

 ages, 



" The film removed 



Which that false fruit, which promised clearer sight, 

 Had bred ; then purged with euphrasy and rue 

 The visual nerve, for he had much to see." 



The little shining geranium, the dwarf red rattle, 

 the yellow tormentil, and that universal favourite, the 

 scarlet pimpernel, were scattered in the bordering 

 herbage of the paths ; and the walls of uncemented 

 stone were nearly covered with large patches of white 

 stone-crop, and of wild thyme, both beautiful but 

 minute plants, the pink blossoms and downy capsules 

 of the latter particularly noticeable from their abun- 

 dance. Here, also, as well as in other places, grew in 

 great profusion, the wood germander, or bitter sage, 

 whose wrinkled leaves were used during the scarcity 

 of the last war as a substitute for tea. 



Fortunately, however, we were not reduced to any 

 such sorry alternative, for our worthy old landlady's 

 tea-caddy proved well stocked with the real China 

 leaf; and when we got back from our afternoon's 

 stroll, we did justice to its revivifying qualities. 



The next morning we started, under the auspices of 



