WILDWOOD WAYS 



There was no trace of them in spots that 

 in summer were a perfect tangle. But 

 this was not true of the fertile stalks. 

 Here and there these, like the one of the 

 royal fern, stood erect and bore their 

 close-lipped spore cases, seal-brown and 

 stiff, high above dead leaves and other 

 decay of fragile annuals. 



All this made a disheartening fern 

 chase, and I turned to the steep side of 

 the hemlock-shaded northern hill, sure of 

 one hardy variety that would have no use 

 for invisibility, however chill the north 

 wind might blow. No smile of direct 

 sunlight ever touches this hill. It is set so 

 steep that only the mid-summer midday 

 sun overtops its slant and this the dense 

 hemlock foliage shuts out. No woodland 

 grasses grow in its dense shadow and 

 only here and there the partridge berry 

 and the pyrola creep down a little from 

 76 



