MEMORY ECHOES 



I OFTEN marvel how it is that the mind is able to 

 call up a whole sequence of associations, all the de- 

 tails of which are flashed before the inner sight, by 

 the sudden appeal to one of our senses. The fragrance 

 of some flower has carried the memory back a span 

 of years, and a fragment of life is lived again : perhaps 

 a day of happiness when we drank deeply of Nature's 

 beauty, or perhaps a time of sorrow and despair, 

 when cords were snapped and gaps were left, never 

 again to be filled. 



Involuntarily, the minutest details are clear to 

 the mind's eye. How the sun shone that day when 

 love was young and sweet and good, and I walked 

 beside her ; every line and poise a joy to me as she 

 stepped from stone to stone across the rushing stream. 

 How clearly I see and hear the hurrying rush of the 

 water as it dashes over the great water-worn stones, 

 falling in goffered frills, then throwing itself up in 

 boiling whiteness, swirling against the rich red earth 

 of the bank, glistening and sparkling when the sun- 



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