SIGNS OF AUTUMN 239 



larch shading from buff to green ; higher yet, great 

 beeches of a fiery red. Every little dell is ablaze 

 with flaming leaves. Some of the elms are very 

 palaces of beauty. And our autumn foliage seems 

 to last the longer ; indeed, our tints may be 

 admired through nearly two months. The first 

 victim to the change is the chestnut, which, with 

 bare arms extended upward, seems to mutely 

 appeal against the violence that disrobes her, first 

 of all the wood. 



Now the streams are swelled with rains, and 

 murmur as they seem to toil in removing endless 

 loads of dead and useless matter. Leaves, twigs, 

 seeds, berries, dead and dying insects all are 

 seized by the whirling currents and are hurried 

 along, down the falls, under the ferns, amongst 

 loose boulders, into still pools, along dark chan- 

 nels, and again in broad daylight, in misty morn- 

 ing and at dewy eve on they go, borne from the 

 places where they grew, ever farther into the 

 deepening waters, passing on into nothingness. 

 Sometimes a branch, thick with twigs, falls 

 athwart a rill, to form a temporary dam, ever in- 

 creased by the addition of dead leaves and litter, 



