OCTOBER 95 



leaping- along- the road, listen to the spring-like 

 calls of the bob-whites, or, early in the month, 

 stroll into some friendly farmer's yard for a feast 

 of watermelons or of grapes now full sweet and 

 purple tinted — of the good fruit, the last seems 

 the best. One may enjoy the scarlet ivy foliage 

 and the red-golden tints developing on the hard 

 maples. Last year some hazelnuts brought home 

 one day were spread out on a level area of roof to 

 dry in sun and air. The village squirrels discov- 

 ered them in surprisingly short time, and made 

 spirited and frequent predatory excursions to the 

 store. The antics of the squirrels were worth far 

 more than the nuts. Search in the right place and 

 one may find violets, as in the years of auld lang 

 syne. Two years ago they were in bloom in this 

 vicinity on October twenty-ninth. Opportunity 

 for a walk might surely have given a November 

 record. 



But not all October days are favorable to coun- 

 try expeditions, if one demands stimulating air, 

 tinted sunsets, or dry roads for feet or wheels. 

 There come days even near the close of the month 

 not merely of rain or threatening clouds, but of 

 warm, heavy atmosphere, wilting, languorous. On 

 the seventeenth this year after a fine morning a 

 heavy thunderstorm passed over in the late after- 

 noon and evening. It was so dark at four o'clock 

 that the electric liorhts were needed. October is 



