I ^7 : 



that the homehest may have a share. Painted by 

 the frosts, some a uniform clear bright yellow, or 

 red, or crimson, as if their spheres had regularly 

 revolved, and enjoyed the sun on all sides alike, — 

 some with the faintest pink blush imaginable, — 

 some brindled with deep red streaks like a cow, or 

 with hundreds of fine blood-red rays running regu- 

 larly from the stem-dimple to the blossom end, like 

 meridional lines, on a straw-colored ground, — some 

 touched with a greenish rust, like a fine lichen, here 

 and there, with crimson blotches or eyes more or less 

 confluent and fiery when wet, — and others gnarly, 

 and freckled or peppered all over on the stem side 

 with fine crimson spots on a white ground, as if acci- 

 dentally sprinkled from the brush of Him who paints 

 the autumn leaves. Others, again, are sometimes red 

 inside, perfused with a beautiful blush, fairy food, 

 too beautiful to eat, — apple of the Hesperides, 

 apple of the evening sky! 



Excursions, 314, 315. 



