48 AUTUMNAL LEAVES. 



either side, with waving leaves of yellow, edged 

 and blotched with brown, standing out in relief 

 against the mass of normal green, their winged 

 samaras, yellowish green tinged with a delicate 

 flush of pink, peeping out in pretty clusters 

 between the leaves. Below the Maples are smaller 

 shrubs of Blackthorn, Bramble, and trailing Dog- 

 rose. A Willow, rising from the left-hand hedge- 

 bank, shows its fast yellowing leaves, tall forms 

 of Bracken, still green and uncoloured, save that 

 the tips of one single pinnule is dyed with gold, 

 grow from the clustering mass, whilst, as before, 

 in the lowermost shady recesses of the bank are 

 verdant Moss and glistening Ivy, the familiar 

 gloss of the Hartstongue and large, conspicuous 

 leaves of the now flowerless Primrose. 



Away on either side of our lane are sloping 

 meadows, bordered by and embowered in trees, 

 and opened up to view as the lane widens. Three 

 huge Oaks stand in a line near us in the park on 

 our left, one of them having its great, hollow 

 trunk split down to the ground. The large, mossy 

 and lichen-covered limbs of these noble trees are 

 flung to a great breadth on either side. 



