2O 



THE BROOK BOOK 



plants of Jack-in-the-pulpit amid a company of anem- 

 ones and violets. A dozen stalks of the false Sol- 

 omon's seal in blossom hung like a white fringe at 



the water's very edge. 

 From the treetops 

 there floated down 

 maple keys and seeds 

 of elm. They fell 

 into the stream and 

 were borne away. A 

 delicate May - fly no 

 bigger than a gnat fluttered up 

 and down over the water. 

 Here and there little blue 

 butterflies floated on the air, 

 like flower petals or tiny 

 feathers from a bluebird's 

 wing. 



Suddenly my path came to 

 a standstill, for there was the 



^j ^^ j j^j ^^ ^ 



to find and which would soon leave me down by 

 the mill from which one always took fresh start. 

 For there one was in the gorge itself and soon 

 came to the "Narrows" beyond which the hills 

 drew apart, leaving a wide amphitheater. The 

 broad, level area between the hills was crowded 

 with young beech trees. They came down to the 

 very water's brink and hung their long branches 

 out over the stream. One could hardly believe 

 that the water which flowed with scarce a ripple 

 here among the beeches would hurry through the 



STURDY JACK-IN-THE-PULPIT 



