THE EARTH'S BOUNTY 



The first to be condemned were two immense 

 black walnuts which stood at opposite sides of 

 a glen that, according to tradition, had been 

 the high road to Boston in Revolutionary 

 days. They were splendid old veterans, and 

 it seemed positively sacrilegious for puny, 

 short-lived human creatures to ordain their 

 end. 



It may seem absurd for a prosaic business 

 woman to own that she regards old trees with 

 a feeling of awe ; but I do, and have done, ever 

 since an evening in early childhood. 



My father had undertaken to play nurse as 

 well as courier from Paris to London, because 

 my grandparents wished me to spend Christmas 

 with them. I don't remember the beginning of 

 the journey at all, but after arriving at Dieppe 

 everything is vividly clear. A severe storm 

 was raging : the Channel steamer could not put 

 out, so we went to a hotel, and for the first 

 time in my life I dined with my father. Din- 

 ing by gaslight when I should have been sound 

 asleep in bed made me feel quite grown up and 



298 



