OCTOBER 



29 



Going over the large hillside stubble field west 

 of Holden wood, I start up a large flock of shore 

 larks, hear their sveet sveet and sveet sveet sveet, and 

 see their tails dark beneath. They are very wary, 

 and run in the stubble, for the most part invisible, 

 while one or two appear to act the sentinel at some 

 rock, peeping out behind it, perhaps, and give their 

 note of alarm, when away goes the whole flock. 

 Such a flock circled back and forth several times 

 over my head, just like ducks reconnoitring before 

 they alight. If you look with a glass, you are sur- 

 prised to see how alert the spies are. These larks 

 have dusky bills and legs. 



THOREAU: Autumn. ] 



30 



To appreciate the wild and sharp flavors of 

 these October fruits, it is necessary that you be 

 breathing the sharp October or November air. 

 The out-door air and exercise which the walker 

 gets give a different tone to his palate, and he 

 craves a fruit which the sedentary would call 

 harsh and crabbed. They must be eaten in the 

 fields, when your system is all aglow with exer- 

 cise, when the frosty weather nips your fingers, 

 the wind rattles the bare boughs or rustles the 

 few remaining leaves, and the jay is heard scream- 

 ing around. What is sour in the house a bracing 

 walk makes sweet. Some of these apples might 

 be labeled, " To be eaten in the wind." 



THOREAU: Wild Apples. 



