XLIII 



THANKSGIVING 



DOUBTLESS many a sportsman has 

 bethought him that his Thanksgiving 

 turkey will have a finer flavor if the 

 feast is prefaced by a few hours in the 

 woods, with dog and gun. Meaner fare 

 than this day of bounty furnishes forth is 

 made delicious by such an appetizer, and 

 the Thanksgiving feast will be none the 

 worse for it. 



What can be sweeter than the whole- 

 some fragrance of the fallen leaves ? 

 What more invigorating than the breath 

 of the two seasons that we catch : here 

 in the northward shade of a wooded hill 

 the nipping air of winter, there where 

 the southern slope meets the sun the 

 genial warmth of an October day. Here 

 one's footsteps crunch sharply the frozen 

 herbage and the ice-bearded border of a 

 spring's overflow ; there splash in thawed 

 pools and rustle softly among the dead 

 leaves. 



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