AUGUST MOODS AND CONTRASTS 



trickles the shallow little stream which here 

 and there widens out into bathing-places for 

 the birds. All through the day thirsty little 

 feathered visitors find refreshment in these wa- 

 ters, and even at dusk they may still be seen 

 taking cooling plunges and preening ragged 

 plumage. 



On this still, intense August day how wel- 

 come the shelter of these arching, interlacing 

 boughs and the comparative coolness of the for- 

 est! Hardy flowers are drooping by the way- 

 side, stout-hearted trees furl their thirsty leaves, 

 willows trail their boughs through tepid water- 

 courses, and out in the open stretches, where the 

 sun beats pitilessly down, one can see the breath 

 of the heated earth as it rises in thin, tremulous 

 waves from the parched surface. 



Let us rest here under these hospitable pines. 

 Their delicate, all-pervading fragrance is at its 

 very best in such an atmosphere as this ; but what 

 a terrible amount of heat is represented by this 

 superlatively successful extraction of the delicious 

 aroma. 



There is at least one little creature, however, 

 to whom the scorching day brings bliss unalloyed. 

 Listen to the loud, penetrating, crescendo drum- 



[IS] 



