XIII 



THE MAKERS OF GOSSAMER 



" Autumn grows old : he, like some simple one, 

 In Summer's castaways is strangely clad ; 

 Such withered things the winds in frolic mad 

 Shake from his feeble hand and forehead wan." 



WILLIAM H. DAVIES. 



As a season for the outdoor study of Nature, the month 

 of November hardly strikes one as altogether congenial. 

 To the enthusiastic ornithologist it may furnish an 

 opportunity for the observation of many of our rarer 

 birds ; the energetic lepidopterist, too, may brave its 

 dreariness in search of pupae : but to the man in the 

 street and, still more so, the man indoors Nature 

 appears to have put up her shutters and bidden her 

 manifold creations rest or perish. 



Put on a pair of thick boots and come with me, my 

 friend, and I will prove to you that Nature has not quite 

 fallen asleep and that some, at least, of her children are 

 as wide-awake as ever. No, do not bring your gun 

 the woods and fields are dreary enough already without 



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