64 Indian Summer 



doom, but so lavish was k of all its beauties 

 it seemed as if hopeful that its brave showing 

 would prove effectual to its preservation. 

 Bright color is not solely a feature of summer 

 or of early autumn leaves ; I found it in this 

 solitary swamp, where every leaf had fallen. 

 Bitter-sweet, fruit laden and so fiery red that 

 the air seemed to glow with heat about it. 

 The summer long this plant had been an un- 

 pretending vine, that mingled its green leaves 

 with the common crowd of rank weeds, and 

 gave no hint of its superiority. In the fast 

 and furious struggle for supremacy while the 

 warm days of feverish sunshine lasted, it 

 was content to slowly build for the future, 

 and not then and there exhaust itself in 

 merely overtopping its neighbors, and what 

 of the sequel ? Now, in these glorious mid- 

 November days, these bird-full, musical days 

 of misty sunshine and rejuvenating warmth, 

 the vine, that had so long been overlooked, 

 is the chief glory of the roadside. 



