MAY NOTES 



early flowers one needs to keep a tight rein on 

 one's adjectives. At this season, not every flower, 

 but pretty nearly every other flower, is pos- Painted 

 sessed of a charm so individual, so convincing, tum 

 that for the moment we are inclined to yield it su- 

 premacy. I remember that this especial day the 

 pink-striped stars of the painted trillium shining 

 through the misty, ineffable green of the spring 

 woods, seemed to pale into momentary insignifi- 

 cance less conspicuous blossoms. They were 

 growing near a lake of considerable extent which 

 had fairly earned its title of " crooked." In and 

 out of the many bends of this lake I was walking 

 with the intention of making the complete circuit. 

 Till I found the painted trillium I had perse- 

 vered in my resolve not only to leave intact the 

 fresh perfection of the woods, but to keep my- 

 self unhampered for a difficult tramp. But those 

 painted trilliums proved too much for me. In 

 their sudden presence every resolution dissolved. 

 I fell upon them as ruthlessly, as flower-thirstily, Yielding 

 as though I had never bored my friends with dis- #J^ to ~ 

 sertations on loving the rose and leaving it on its 

 stalk. Many were the headless trillium stalks 

 which met my furtive eyes. But later they had 

 their revenge. The great, gay bunch proved a 

 growing burden. At last, in a shamed, stealthy 

 fashion, with something the sense as well as the 



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