OUTDOORS 



smallest fragments, and these will melt rap- 

 idly and wash against foam-piled shores. 

 The wings of scurrying wild-fowl cut swiftly 

 across from cove to timber, and in long lines 

 and ribbons about the sky, and the clang of 

 Canada geese sounds harsh overhead. 



And by the slope where apple-trees wait, 

 a mist of filmy lace weaves along the dead 

 leaves of a dead year, and the wing of a 

 jaybird flaunts saucily in the empty branches. 

 Surely in this season, of all others, nature 

 has shadowed forth hope, and garbed her in 

 many a color from the water's edge to the 

 wood coverts. There is a hint of mouse- 

 colored buddings on the willow twigs cat- 

 kins or " pussy-willows. " There are green 

 dottings along many a branch, and the snows 

 have melted and gone. The rabbit a gray 

 ghost now ambles haltingly along dim or- 

 chard spaces. The flicker's golden wing 

 flashes across and the sober brown of a rob- 

 in's pinion follows. There is a breath of 

 freshness that ripples in the sunshine and 

 dances in the winds and waters. And the 

 elusive spirit of April, with many a blossom 

 in her hair, leads onward through meadow 

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