196 A SPRING RELISH. 



feeling, to see such a bountiful supply of pure, run- 

 ning water. One's desires and affinities go out 

 toward the full streams. How many a parched place 

 they reach and lap in one's memory ! How many a 

 vision of naked pebbles and sun-baked banks they 

 cover and blot out ! They give eyes to the fields ; 

 they give dimples and laughter ; they give light and 

 motion. Running water! What a delightful sug- 

 gestion the words always convey ! One's thoughts 

 and sympathies are set flowing by them; they un- 

 lock a fountain of pleasant fancies and associations 

 in one's memory ; the imagination is touched and 

 refreshed. 



March water is usually clean, sweet water ; every 

 brook is a trout-brook, a mountain brook; the cold 

 and the snow have supplied the condition of a high 

 latitude ; no stagnation, no corruption comes down 

 stream now as on a summer freshet. Winter comes 

 down liquid and repentant. Indeed, it is more than 

 water that runs then : it is frost subdued ; it is spring 

 triumphant. No obsolete water-courses now. The 

 larger creeks seek out their abandoned beds, return 

 to the haunts of their youth, and linger fondly there. 

 The muskrat is adrift, but not homeless ; his range is 

 vastly extended, and he evidently rejoices in full 

 streams. Through the tunnel of the meadow-mouse 

 the water rushes as through a pipe ; and that nest of 

 his, that was so warm and cozy beneath the snow- 

 bank in the meadow-bottom, is sodden or afloat. But 

 meadow-mice are not afraid of water. On various 



