4 MY FARM. 



house up to the hills piling westward ; slopes on 

 either margin of the glen ; and above them, upon 

 higher ground, pasture lands dotted with stately 

 trees ; while a fat meadow seemed to lie by the river 

 bank, where the little brook came sauntering in. 

 There, and thereabout, whisking their sides, stood 

 the cattle, as in a Flemish picture as true, as still, 

 and just as real. There may be such cattle whisking 

 their tails, but they are none of mine. 



Then, it seemed the home should be upon an isl- 

 and, looking down and off to the sea, where ships short- 

 ened sail, and bore up for the channel buoys, which 

 lay bobbing on the water. There, the farm land end- 

 ed in a pebbly beach, on which should lie a great 

 drift of sea weed after every southeaster. The wood 

 was a stately grove of oaks, taking the brunt of the 

 northwesters that roared around the house in autumn, 

 and making grateful lee for the pigeons that dashed 

 in and around the gables of the barn. The brook 

 seemed here a mere creek, which at high water should 

 be flooded, even with the banks of sedge ; and when 

 the tide was out, showed half a dozen gushing springs 

 which plied their work jantily till the ebb came, and 

 then, after coquetting and toying with their lover, 

 the sea were lost in his embrace. 



Only a fancy ! If there be such a lookout 



from farm windows, the ships come and go with- 



