CHAPTER XV 

 THE MARLBORO ELM 



Lean close and set thine ear against the bark; 



Then tell me what faint, murmurous sounds are heard. 



Charles Henry Luders 



THE road over which Washington 

 passed on his way to Cambridge 

 is still the favorite highway between 

 Springfield and Worcester, and between Wor- 

 cester and Boston. It has now become the 

 popular automobile route between those 

 cities, and many a beautiful tree greets the 

 traveler with its grateful shade. After pass- 

 ing the old oaks at Wayside Inn, going 

 towards the west, you enter the town of 

 Marlboro. A large sign informs you that 

 this town is the seventh in shoe production 

 in the state, and that it is "clean, healthy 

 and prosperous." Near the end of West 

 Main street, on the lawn of the Stevens 

 place stands an old elm tree, the dimensions 

 of which are quite extraordinary: circum- 

 ference at breast height, 17^ feet, height, 



