BROOK AND LAGOON 



183 



by. Its plucking had some effect, for I felt its 

 claws and stayed the boat long enough to assure 

 myself that it was none other than "tear-thumb." 

 Its teeth looked just as sharp as ever. This plant 

 always reminds me of the family of rodents be- 

 cause of these reflexed prickles. Long ago the 

 suggestion in its name had proved too much for 

 my imagination and I had 

 tested it against my tender 

 thumb. It did; there was 

 no doubt that it was well 

 named, and "tear -thumb" 

 it will ever be to me, 

 no matter what the 

 botanists may call it. 

 The boat ground- 

 ed on a muddy bar 

 and swung out into 

 a bay. A path which 

 I had never seen be- 

 fore opened invitingly at the boat's side. My wan- 

 derings had always been along the other bank, 

 but here was mystery. How did I dare leave the 

 boat there tied to a tree root? Yet it seemed 

 quite natural in the woods to do unconventional 

 things. The path bore straight a\yay from the 

 water for a rod or more, then bent sharply to the 

 left and soon brought me to the bank of a second 

 stream whose existence I had not even suspected. 

 It was wilder than the first. The bushes on its 

 further side looked unfamiliar, A gray veil hung 

 over them and added to the mystery. I rubbed 



TEAR-THUMB 



