FIRST VISIT TO STONY BROOK 



5 



retired behind some bushes, hid my shoes and stock- 

 ings there and put on the extra stockings. By the 

 time the Professor thought of me again I was in 

 midstream, carefully examining some flat stones, 

 and trying to act as if nothing unusual had oc- 

 curred. I found the water just cool enough for 

 comfort, and was able to walk up very slippery 

 places. Indeed I had never been happier in all 

 my life. The spirit of the brook had already en- 

 tered into me, and I was a part of it. I kept to 

 the water from that time on, and was able to get a 

 point of view which is impossible from the bank. 

 As we emerged from the narrows, we came upon 

 a small patch of ground, 

 almost an island and 

 overgrown with plants 

 of all shapes and sizes. 

 It was there we discov- 

 ered a bit of nature's 

 handiwork which seems 

 to defy description. A 

 few strawberry plants 

 had found their way to 

 this garden spot and, 

 though it was at least 

 ten o'clock in the fore- 

 noon, they were decked 

 with jewels of rarest 

 quality* They needed 

 no sun to give them bril- 

 liant hues. The plant held its leaves up bravely, the 

 three green blades not spread wide open. The 





