AMONG THE TREES. 



THE OAK TREE. 



Mabel was standing beneath the wide- 

 spreading branches of an oak tree. The 

 breeze was playing with the leaves, 

 which, swaying to and fro, cast fan- 

 tastic shadows on the grass at her feet. 

 Beautiful, fleecy clouds were floating- 

 overhead; the liquid notes of an oriole 

 were borne upon the breeze, and she 

 stood watching its dainty form and 

 gorgeous plumage, as it flitted from 

 branch to branch. She was in a half 

 dreamy state which was Miss itself. 

 The oak tree brushed her face with 

 some of its leaves, at which she laughed 

 merrily. 



'T have been reading Tennyson's 

 'Talking Oak,' and have come. Oak 

 Tree, to listen to your beautiful legends 

 and family history if you will tell them 

 to me." She seated herself comfort- 

 ably on a small knoll, and looked in- 

 tently at the great mass of foliage. A 

 sudden rustling of leaves, and she fan- 

 cied she heard the Oak Tree say: 



*T have been wishing to talk to you. 

 My friend the Pine Tree has told you 

 some interesting things. By the way, 

 I have a double interest in that last 

 legend which he told you; for, not only 

 was the strong box which held the 

 pine tree shillings made of oak, but 

 also grandfather's chair in which the 

 mint master sat." 



"I am glad to hear it," said the 

 maiden, as she picked up an acorn 

 which he threw at her. 



*'Our family, like that of the Conifer, 

 is an ancient and numerous one. We 

 are known as the Oak Family, and we 

 have thirty members. We, too, are 

 mentioned in the Bible; for it was one 

 of my ancestors which caught the lux- 

 urious hair of that rebelUous prince 

 Absalom; for you read that he was 

 •hanged in the branches of a giant oak." 



He paused as though thinking, then, 

 in a deep, majestic voice which filled 

 Mabel with awe, he continued: 



''We are the tree of myths and po- 

 etry; the tree which Celt and Briton 

 worshipped; which shaded the Druid's 

 sacred fire. We have, at all times, been 

 the emblem of strength and longevity. 

 When the mistletoe was found growing 

 on our branches, it was deemed sacred; 

 the Arch-druid would separate its par- 

 ent stem with a golden knife, while 

 attendant priests standing below with 

 white robes outspread, would catch the 

 sacred branch ere it reached the ground. 

 The mistletoe was distributed among 

 the people who used it as a medicine. 

 The druids wore oak chaplets; their 

 sacred fires were of burning oak logs, 

 and the Yule log burnt at their great 

 feast was of oak. Every year, the peo- 

 ple put out their fires and rekmdled 

 them from the sacred fire. At this feast, 

 two white bulls were sacrificed. They 

 also tried their prisoners beneath our 

 wide-spreading branches. The Ger- 

 mans, like the Britons, thought we be- 

 longed to the god of thunder, and when 

 good Bishop Boniface hewed down a 

 famous tree under which they wor- 

 shipped their gods, the people expected 

 to see him struck by lightning; but after 

 a few strokes of the axe, to their great 

 surprise, the tree fell down in four 

 pieces. Ah, yes! Those were the times; 

 but now, our glory is departed. 



''The ancient Greeks and Romans 

 thought that we belonged especially to 

 Jove — the King of the gods. Virgil 

 sang thus of us: 



"Jove's own tree 

 That holds the woods in awful sovereignty: 

 For length of ages lasts its happy reig:n, 

 And lives of mortal man contend in vain. 

 Full in the midst of his own strength he 



stands, 

 Stretching his brawny arms and leafy hands, 

 His shade protects the plains, his head the 

 hills commands." 



'That is beautiful. Are there any 

 more myths connected with vour fam- 



ilv?" 



