AUTUMN 51 



Let that one human discord be forgotten. 

 It had been a glorious day ; few lovelier 

 were ever made : a day without a cloud (lit- 

 erally), and almost without a breath ; a day 

 to walk, and a day to sit still ; a long feast 

 of beauty ; and withal, it had for me a per- 

 fect conclusion, as if Nature herself were set- 

 ting a benediction upon the hours. As I 

 neared the end of my jaunt, the hotel already 

 in sight, Venus in all her splendor hung low 

 in the west, the full moon was showing its 

 rim above the trees in the east, and at the 

 same moment a vesper sparrow somewhere 

 in the darkening fields broke out with its 

 evening song. Five or six times it sang, 

 and then fell silent. It was enough. The 

 beauty of the day was complete. 



The next day, October 1, was no less de- 

 lightful : mild, stiU, and cloudless ; so that 

 it was pleasant to lounge upon the piazza in 

 the early morning, looking at Lafayette, — 

 good business of itself, — and listening to 

 the warble of a bluebird, the soft chips of 

 myrtle warblers, or the distant gobbling of a 

 turkey down at one of the river farms ; while 

 now and then a farmer drove past from his 



