OAK APPLES. 



"IT la impossible to walk across so much as a rood of the natural 

 earth, with mind unagitated and rightly poised, without receiving 

 strength from some stone, flower, leaf or sound, nor without a sense 

 as of dew falling on you out of the sky." -DE. SAMUEL JOHNSOX. 



AS I jogged along this cool autumn morning 

 more than once I pulled up my faithful 

 old horse and got out. He had by long experi- 

 ence become acquainted with my habits, as I 

 had his. He did not approve of my liking to 

 investigate so many things by the wayside. 

 His preference was to go straight on to the end 

 of the journey, and he followed me with his 

 eyes reprovingly till I took my seat again. 

 This morning seemed a favorable time to col- 

 lect some objects of interest. There were plenty 

 of them, and well worth study and observation. 

 I could have had empty bird's-nests, telling 

 much of the little builders. I could have had 

 toadstools of various species, all of them with 

 curious histories and habits; but coming upon 

 some "oak apples," I filled a pocket with the 



