66 A Hunt for the Pyxie 



ness is not mere cowardice, and I would 

 accept no one's statement that he is wholly 

 free of it. Every sound becomes unduly 

 significant when we are alone in a wilderness ; 

 often unpleasantly so, even during the day, 

 and 



" in the night, imagining some fear, 

 How easy is a bush supposed a bear !" 



Out of the pines and into the oak woods : 

 the change was very abrupt, and as complete 

 as possible. Every feature of the surround- 

 ings was bathed in light now, and the emer- 

 gence from the pine forest's gloom restored 

 our spirits. We are ever craving variety, and 

 there was positive beauty in every stunted 

 oak's ugliness, and from them we needed but 

 to turn our heads to see thrifty magnolias 

 near the river-bank. These have no special 

 enemy, now that the beavers are gone, and 

 thrive in the black mud by the water's edge ; 

 better, by far, than the gum-trees near them, 

 for these were heavy laden with pallid mis- 

 tletoe, to me a most repugnant growth. 



We reached open country at last, and here 

 were birds without number. How quickly 

 all else fades at such a time ! The whole 



