II 



THROUGHOUT THE CHANGING YEAR 



When we first came to live on "The Highlands" 

 it was already September and our explorations were 

 confined to the immediate neighborhood. We did 

 not penetrate beyond a strip of timber which seemed 

 to mark, the border of our universe. Still further lay 

 a field, glimpses of which could be had between the 

 columns of pine and oak. But with the soft Indian 

 summer days came again the instinct to travel and 

 we climbed the rail fence with its tangle of briers 

 and found ourselves in unexplored country. Here 

 was a broad rolling field with no houses in sight (we 

 were glad of that, for we disliked being objects of 

 curiosity) , and yonder was a dip between two hills, 

 which had the look of a water-way. Could we do 

 better than follow what had once been a road until 

 we came to this stream and then turn ourselves over 

 to its wayward guidance ? 



The road itself was not devoid of interest to us. 

 On both sides was a flower border which might have 

 graced a garden. Wild flowers of many kinds 

 crowded into the very roadway. Purple and yellow 

 were the predominating colors, for autumn had pos- 

 session of the land ; but there was plenty of white, 

 some blue and a little red. All trace of last night's 

 rain had disappeared under the fervent sun, save in 

 a few old ruts in the road. As we neared one of 



(8) 



