"You have no doubt heard of the 

 divining^ rods of the ancient Scythians, 

 which Herodotus tells us were of the 

 Willow. Another member of our fam- 

 ily, the White Poplar, was consecrated 

 to Hercules because he destroyed Cacus 

 in a cavern adjoinin^s^ Mt. Aventinus, 

 which was covered with these trees ; so 

 overjoyed were they with this victory 

 that they bound his brows with a branch 

 of "^'hite Poplar. Persons offering sac- 

 rifices to Hercules were always crowned 

 with branches of this tree ; and all who 

 had gloriously conquered their enemies 

 in battle wore garlands of it. The 

 White Poplar has a beautiful bark, being 

 black at the base of the tree and some 

 distance above, bright yellow veined 

 with black streaks." 



'Ts there no legend about this tree?" 

 asked Mabel. 



**Yes ; ancient mythology tells us that 

 one day Phaeton attempted to drive his 

 father's chariot, and caused such peril 

 that he was hurled into the river Eri- 

 danua by the thunderbolts of Jupiter. 

 He was greatly lamented by his three sis- 

 ters, the Heliades, who ever sat by the 

 river's edge and wTung their hands, 

 while their tears ceaselessly flowed. 

 Such sorrow touched the compassion of 

 the gods, who changed them into poplar 

 trees and their tears into amber, for it 

 was the belief of the ancients that amber 

 flowed like tear drops from the poplars. 

 There is a certain Cottonwood also 

 called Carolina Poplar, w^hich is a great 

 favorite as a city shade tree ; owing to 

 the fact that its leaves possess just 

 enough natural varnish to cause the 

 grime, dust and soot to slide from its 

 leaves. Its lungs therefore are free and 

 its leaves are bright and fresh and clean 

 when those of the maple and elm are 

 soiled, choked and dying." 



"What a pretty noise the Poplar leaves 

 make! How I love to watch the leaves 

 fluttering and shimmering in the light ! 

 They look so much as if they were 

 endowed with life." 



"Each leaf is endowed \vith life. Have 

 you ever noticed that the leaves of a Pop- 

 lar are placed w4th one edge to the sky, 

 the other to the earth ? In this way they 

 are more susceptible to the wind and 



move about more readily, hitting against 

 one another and making the noise of 

 which you speak. It is claimed that is 

 how the Poplar got its name, because it 

 kept saying pop-pop. In India they 

 have a tree which the natives call a pee- 

 pul tree for the same reason." 



"We have a beautiful Aspen growing 

 on our lawn and its leaves too, are con- 

 tinually moving." 



"The Aspen, or Tremulous Poplar is 

 another member of our family. There 

 is a strange tradition about the quivering 

 leaves of the Aspen." 



"Oh do tell it to me," said Mabel, 

 starting up so quickly that the canoe 

 made an alarming move which set all the 

 pretty minnows darting about as if in 

 fright. 



"Be careful," said the Willow in a 

 warning tone, "the water is shallow or 

 you might have had a wetting. Well," 

 and the voice seemed awed and solemn, 

 "It is said that the wood of the cross on 

 which the gentle Saviour agonized and 

 died,'was taken from an Aspen Tree, and 

 ever since it trembles and shivers at the 

 remembrance. As one of your poets so 

 aptly puts it in the 'Spirit of the 

 Woods' : 



Far off in highland wilds, 'tis said, 

 But Truth now laughs at Fancy's lore, 

 That of this tree the cross was made 

 Which erst the Lord of Glory bore; 

 And of that deed its leaves confess 

 E'er since a troubled consciousness. 



"Others again, say that it was the only 

 tree which did not bend its head when 

 Jesus passed, acknowledging His sover- 

 eignty. There is another verse of poetry 

 which includes both of these traditions. 



For fear the aspen, pallid and weak, 



Which sighs by the moorland side, 

 And gave the wood for that hallowed cross 



On which the Saviour died; 

 Which stood erect while its fellow-trees 

 stooped, 



Till its merited punishment came, 

 And since the doom of that terrible day 



Has quivered and bent with shame. 



'The ancients place a deep meaning on 

 the quivering of the leaves, saying that it 

 is to remind us how time flies." 



"I will think of these things and look 

 at our beautiful tree with a greater 

 interest," she said. "I never knew there 



