206 GREEN TRAILS AND UPLAND PASTURES 



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quaint superstition could not have had an ancient 



origin, surely, for the telegraph is a nineteenth-century 

 creation. Yet it is equally certain that we did not in- 

 vent the superstition for ourselves. It was handed 

 down to us from our elders. 



Akin to the saying that "open and shet is a sign of 

 wet" is the ancient saw that if you can see enough 

 blue sky to make a pair of Dutchman's breeches, it is 

 going to clear up. I have found this saying almost 

 universally familiar to young and old, in various parts 

 of the country. How well I remember, in my child- 

 "hood, the wide divergences of opinion which used to 

 develop between my parents and me regarding the ex- 

 act amount of material required for a Dutchman's 

 nether garments ! Standing at the western windows, or 

 on the veranda, I would gaze hopefully at the cloud 

 dome overhead, looking for a rift, and when one ap- 

 peared I would rush to my mentors with the informa- 

 tion. It did no good to look for it in the east, for 

 unless the west cleared my father affirmed that no 

 dependence could be placed even on the bluest sky. 

 Dragging my parents back to the window, I would 

 point to my rift of blue and triumphantly affirm that it 

 would make at least six pairs of breeches, only to be 

 told that I hadn't the most rudimentary knowledge of 

 Dutch fashions. Before I was allowed to venture 

 forth on my fishing trip or hunting expedition, it 

 seems to me now that acres of blue had to be revealed 



