16 FOREST FANCIES 



grandfather, who had worked strenuously, and 

 whose last years I would make comfortable; 

 and when he was gone, they would look at me 

 and love me and leave me in the chosen 

 place/' 



*^I should like to be a bridge," said a fourth, 

 ''and know the ceaseless tramp, tramp of pass- 

 ing feet. Many feet would touch me, and by 

 their tread I could tell why they touched me 

 as they did — whether joy or sorrow or busi- 

 ness or idle fancy took them over my prostrate 

 form. As the feet touched me, I should be 

 thinking, thinking, all day long, and even at 

 night there would be stories to tell.'' 



*'I would be a church steeple, ever pointing 

 upward, even as here I have striven to come 

 closer to the mystery of the sky," said 

 Pinus with his failing breath, well knowing 

 that upon this earth his work Avas forever 

 done. 



*'I would be the mast of a ship that rides 

 triumphant over the deep sea." said the son 

 of Pinus. 



''And I," said a young oak, "would be the 



