OCTOBER 



25 



Invade some butternut or hickory-nut grove on 

 a frosty October morning, and hear the red squir- 

 rel beat the " juba " on a horizontal branch. It is 

 a most lively jig, what the boys call a "regular 

 break-down," interspersed with squeals and snick- 

 ers and derisive laughter. The most noticeable 

 peculiarity about the vocal part of it is the fact 

 that it is a kind of duet. In other words, by some 

 ventriloquial tricks, he appears to accompany him- 

 self, as if his voice split up, a part forming a low 

 guttural sound, and a part a shrill nasal sound. 

 BURROUGHS: Winter Sunshine. 



26 



I slowly discover that this is a gossamer day. 

 I first see the fine lines stretching from one weed, 

 or grass-stem or rush, to another, sometimes seven 

 or eight feet distant horizontally, and only four or 

 five inches above the water. When I look further, 

 I find that they are everywhere and on everything, 

 sometimes forming conspicuous fine white gossa- 

 mer webs on the heads of grasses. They are so 

 abundant that they seem to have been suddenly 

 produced in the atmosphere by some chemistry, 

 spun out of air, I know not for what purpose. 



THOREAU : Autumn. 



