1 62 The Nature-Study Idea 

 and to know the great world that I was sure 

 must lie beyond. I felt that the brook was 

 greater and wiser than I. It became my 

 teacher. I wondered how it knew when March 

 came, and why its round of life recurred so 

 regularly with the returning seasons. I remem- 

 ber that I was anxious for the spring to come, 

 that I might see it again. I longed for the 

 earthy smell when the snow settled away and 

 left bare brown margins along its banks. I 

 watched for the suckers that came up from the 

 river to spawn. I made a note when the first 

 frog peeped. I waited for the unfolding spray 

 to soften the bare trunks. I watched the green- 

 ing of the banks and looked eagerly for the 

 bluebird when I heard his curling note some- 

 where high in the air. 



Yet, with all my familiarity with this brook, 

 I did not know it in the winter. Its pathway 

 up into the winter woods was as unexplored as 

 the arctic regions. Somehow, it was not a 

 brook in the winter time. It was merely a 

 dreary waste, as cold and as forbidding as 



