SWAYING TREE TOPS 



sight which valued this mountain 

 cottage above all else. 



There came a gray-haired old man 

 from the orchard, and when he saw 

 me he turned aside to the path be- 

 hind the house, but here the girl 

 stopped him, and I knew him as her 

 grandfather, and I took of the fruit 

 offered from his basket. From him 

 I guessed whence came her love of 

 the place, for he was one who had 

 the manner of nature's child, grow- 

 ing old as nature doth ripen fruit. 

 Those eyes had not looked long on 

 men rushing and jostling each other 

 for a footing. Those lines upon the 

 forehead and about the eyes were 

 not the lines which nervous worry 

 draws across the face it strains and 

 buffets. The respect with which he 



[55] 



