HOW IT II A P P E N E D 



can ever really finish a country place," replied the Constant Im- 

 prover, for so was re-christened The Man Who Had Always 

 Wanted a Farm. "That is one of its greatest charms. There is 

 always something new to make, to build, to do." 



And the Constant Improver unconsciously tossed hack his head 

 and his eyes flashed at the joyous prospect. 



Is it possible to live among the wonders of this wilderness and 

 not desire to know something about them ? Think of the enormous 

 variety of leaf-shapes to learn, the changing seasons' flowers to 

 name, the fruits and berries to classify, the Avild life from humming- 

 bird to crow, from the muskrat on the shore to the squirrel in the 

 wood. Think of the mushrooms, with their uselessly complicated 

 nomenclature, and the butterflies, the stinging family, the beetles 

 and the ants, the caterpillars and grubs innumerable. Has not 

 many an eminent man spent a lifetime on the study of a single 

 part of this natural world ? Here was the opportunity, a wide field 

 spread before us. 



That first September, when the wild grape draped the wood 

 with its huge brown winding cables, its tangle of twisted tendrils, 

 and its clusters of puckery fruit, we wandered often in the forest, 

 searching each ferny glen and wondering at the succession of pic- 

 tures that at every turn met our ignorant eyes. How interesting 

 it would be to find out what Indians had lived in this region, what 

 they called it, and, if possible, use that name for our home! We 



found out easily enough that it was the Pottawattomies who, not 



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