132 EYE SPY 



came to me, I caught a whiff which was entirely 

 new, and which in its suggestions seemed strange- 

 ly out of place here in the woods. What was it 

 like ? It certainly reminded me of so7nething w^ith 

 which my nostril was familiar, but which I could 

 not now identify. I only knew that it had no 

 place here in the woods, and even as I. sought to 

 take one extra full sniff for further analysis, it was 

 gone. After the lapse of a few moments, how- 

 ever, its faint suggestion returned, and, increasing 

 moment by moment, at length seemed to tincture 

 the air like incense. It was now so strong as to 

 be pungent, and my wits w^re keyed to their ut- 

 most, until at length a vision of a banana peel 

 seemed to hover against the dried leaves. " Some 

 one has been eating a banana here, and thrown 

 the peel away," thought I. But no, this is hardly 

 the odor of banana, either; it is more like pine- 

 apple. Yes, it is pineapple. No, that is not quite 

 it either; it is strawberry. "Nonsense. Straw- 

 berry season was passed two weeks ago." And 

 while I am debating the matter the spice-bush at 

 my elbow has sent out a pungent challenge which 

 has chased the enchantment all away. The next 

 time it returns in a new guise, and the only sug- 

 gestion which it brings is a reminder of my moth- 

 er's red leather travelling-bag. Russia-leather? 

 Yes, that is it — Russia-leather. No. Russia-leather, 

 pineapple, strawberry, and banana peel mixed. 



