its great-grandchildren. Only a little 

 training is necessary, then part the 

 branches on one side, and there is a 

 unique summer-house with a central pil- 

 lar and a soft green curtain all around." 

 ''Oh, how delightful that would be!" 

 "Folk-lore tells among other legends, 

 that we have the power to ward off pes- 

 tilence and disease. Now this is indeed 

 true, but not through any supernatural 

 charm which we possess, it is simply 

 through drainage. We are great feed- 

 ers ; our roots strike deep and take up 

 quantities of water, by this means 

 swamps are drained and useless land is 

 made to bring forth grain." 



"You are something like the larch in 

 that respect," said Mabel, as she looked 

 off towards the hills where could be seen 

 fields of corn in shock, great piles of 

 yellow pumpkins, which spoke of 

 Thanksgiving Day, and men busily 

 stripping the orchard trees of their bur- 

 dens. Nearer at hand, she could see 

 golden quinces and clusters of purple 

 grapes. All spoke of a bountiful har- 

 vest from the Great Giver. 



"In England, at one time," the soft, 

 musical whisperings seemed to say, ''it 

 was believed that we possessed a super- 

 natural charm, and there still exist Ash 

 Trees which bear a long scar, the mark 

 of a wound received in early days. 

 These trees, when young, were split 

 open and a puny, suffering baby was 

 passed three times, by its father, on one 

 side, to its mother on the other, through 

 this gap in the tree. Then while the 

 mother tenderly bore the little sufferer 

 home, cradled in her arms, the father 

 quickly plastered the tree with mud and 

 deftly bandaged the wound that it might 

 heal, for on this hung the baby's recov- 

 ery ; if the gap remained open the baby 

 would die." 



"How strange a superstition!" 

 "Yes ; but it harmed nothing. Here 

 is another: When a horse or a cow had 

 pains in its legs it was thought that a 

 gentle, harmless little animal with a long 

 nose, called a shrew-mouse, had run 

 over it. The cure was to cut a hole in 

 the trunk of an Ash, in which was 

 placed a live shrew-mouse, and the hole 

 plugged up. The Ash was then called 

 a Shrew-Ash, and the suffering animal 



was cured by the touch of its branches." 



"What became of the poor mouse?" 



"You can imagine what became of it 

 in that place ; bereft of light, air, food 

 and drink. They have no such supersti- 

 tion about us in France, nevertheless, no 

 one cares to have an Ash Tree in his 

 grounds." 



"How is that?" 



"Because of the existence of a little, 

 golden-green beetle, called the blister- 

 fly, which lives upon our leaves. It has 

 a sickening smell and devours our 

 leaves, when it dies ; its body then falls 

 to powder and is blown about by the 

 wind, falling on the faces and entering 

 the lungs of passers-by, causing inflam- 

 mation. The bodies of these insects are 

 often used by medical men in making 

 blisters." 



Mabel lay in the hammock listening 

 to the notes of the Ash and the chirp of 

 the crickets, while she pondered on the 

 many wonderful things in this beautiful 

 world of ours ; the leaves swayed gently, 

 and she fancied she heard the Ash Tree 

 say : 



"An Ash key once fell into a decayed 

 willow where it took root ; it soon 'fin- 

 ished the food to be found in the old 

 trunk, for the Ash is a great feeder, and 

 it reached below into the earth ; it then 

 throve so well that it burst the willow 

 open; the root thus exposed to the air 

 soon became transformed into a strong 

 trunk." 



"That is rather a curious incident ; I 

 think though that I care more for your 

 legends. To my mind they are more 

 fascinating than any other tree legends 

 which I have heard." 



"I am pleased that you like them. I 

 have one more to tell you as you lie 

 dreaming there, then my story is done. 

 This legend states that the earth is flat 

 and in the middle rises Yggdrasil— on 

 Ash Tree — its great canopy covers the 

 whole world and under its shade the 

 gods hold their councils. It, like the 

 'Tree of the Universe,' has three roots, 

 one in heaven, one in the land of the 

 frost-giants, and one in the under world. 

 At each root is situated a sacred foun- 

 tain of wisdom and knowledge, with 

 which three maidens water the tree, 

 whose abundant foliage drops dew of 



