2 Life of a Fossil Hunter 



our tablecloth on shore beneath the very tree from 

 which the catamount was once about to spring upon 

 terrified Elizabeth Temple. 



My greatest pleasure in those early days and 

 best, was to live with a darling cousin in the woods. 

 There among the majestic trees, maples, hickories, 

 pines, and hemlocks, we used to build sylvan re- 

 treats, weaving willow twigs in and out among the 

 poles which I cut for supports; and there, to those 

 great trees, I delivered my boy orations. We de- 

 lighted also to visit and explore Moss Pond, a body 

 of water on top of the hills across the river, sur- 

 rounded entirely by sponge moss. We could " tee- 

 ter " across the moss to a log that gave us support, 

 and catch blind bullheads, or eat our lunch in the 

 cool, dense hemlock woods that surrounded the 

 water, where the heavy branches, intertwined like 

 mighty arms, shut away the light, so that even at 

 midday the sun could barely pierce their shadows. 



How I loved flowers! I carried to my mother 

 the first crocus bloom that showed its head above 

 the melting snow, the trailing arbutus, and the ten- 

 der foliage of the wintergreen. Later in the season 

 I gathered for her the yellow cowslip and fragrant 

 water-lily; and when autumn frosts had tinged the 

 leaves with crimson and gold I filled her arms with 

 a glorious wealth of color. 



Even in those early days I used to cut out shells 



