20 



THE BROOK BOOK 



plants of Jack-in-the-pulpit amid a company of anem- 

 ones and violets. A dozen stalks of the false Sol- 

 omon's seal in blossom hung like a white fringe at 



the water's very edge. 



From the treetops 



there floated down 



maple keys and seeds 



of elm. They fell 



into the stream and 



were borne away. A 



delicate May - fly no 



bigger than a gnat fluttered up 



and down over the water. 



Here and there little blue 



butterflies floated on the air, 



like flower petals or tiny 



feathers from a bluebird's 



wing. 



Suddenly my path came to 

 a standstill, for there was the 



STURDY JACK-IN-THE-PUI.P.T ^^^J ^J^-^J^ J J^^J ^^^^^^^ ^^^ 



to find and which would soon leave me down by 

 the mill from which one always took fresh start. 

 For there one was in the gorge itself and soon 

 came to the "Narrows" beyond which the hills 

 drew apart, leaving a wide amphitheater. The 

 broad, level area between the hills was crowded 

 with young beech trees. They came down to the 

 very water's brink and hung their long branches 

 out over the stream. One could hardly believe 

 that the water which flowed with scarce a ripple 

 here among the beeches would hurry through the 



