2l6 



In Quest of 

 "yfWaptonk 

 r ffieMId 



of thrushes were ringing the Angelus ; nearer 

 a solitary vesper-sparrow, hidden in the gray 

 moss, was singing his hymn to the even- 

 ing; an unknown call floated down from the 

 distant hills; a fox barked in answer; while 

 the river hushed its roar as the night fell 

 and went singing down on its way to the 

 sea. And to all these sounds, and to every 

 wave of light and passing shadow and rest- 

 less wing of the eddying plovers, 

 i. the young birds responded instantly 

 ffl with low cheeps and whistles, draw- 

 $$ r m S nearer and nearer together to 

 n 4\ feel a last touch of their parents' 

 -^^-^ white cheeks ; while I lay 

 ^yr^=J and watched them, myself 

 ifes^W drifting away into that deli- 



cious border-land of 

 feeling and sense- 

 impression in which 

 the young birds live 

 V^/si- so constantly, where all conscious 

 'VlIT-? thought vanishes and one becomes 

 u-'-i alive in every nerve and finger-tip 

 h to the sights and sounds and subtle 



