72 THE FACE OF THE FIELDS 



quite sure) he lived, single and alone. He would 

 go down to the meadow when the toads gathered 

 there to lay their eggs, but back he would come, 

 without mate or companion, to his tree. Stronger 

 than love of kind, than love of mate, constant 

 and dominant in his slow cold heart is his in- 

 stinct for home. 



If I go down to the orchard and bring up 

 from the apple tree another toad to dwell in the 

 hole of the hickory, I shall fail. He might re- 

 main for the day, but not throughout the night, 

 for with the gathering twilight there steals upon 

 him an irresistible longing, the Heimweb which he 

 shares with me ; and guided by it, as the bee and 

 the pigeon and the dog are guided, he makes his 

 sure way back to the orchard home. 



Would he go back beyond the orchard, over 

 the road, over the wide meadow, over to the 

 Baldwin tree, half a mile away, if I brought him 

 from there? We shall see. During the coming 

 summer I shall mark him in some manner, and 

 bringing him here to the hickory, I shall then 

 watch the old apple tree yonder. It will be a 

 hard, perilous journey. But his longing will not 

 let him rest ; and guided by his mysterious sense 



