Music of the Wild 



hens would mother broods there, tlie turkeys shp 

 around Avarily, and the guineas clatter in the 

 grass. JNIartins and swallows homing under the 

 barn eaves would sail above the trees, and black- 

 birds from the creek would build on high branches. 

 But no dream could encompass all the music that 

 would swell there throughout the summer. 



Anj^ lover of sunshine, bird song, and orchard 

 j)ictures almost could see the old man who finished 

 his day's work and then rested himself A^ith music, 

 sitting beneath liis trees, worshiping God in na- 

 ture. I have kuown many men like him, and all 

 of them had bodies as strong as their trees, nmsic 

 in their hearts if the birds failed to sing, and faces 

 serene as summer skies. 



The garden lies on one side of the dooryard, the 



barn lot on the other. The garden is a quaint 



An Old- commingling of use and beaut}'. There are rasp- 



fashioned j^gj.j.y^ currant, and gooseberry bushes along the 



Garden ' , . 



sides and across the foot, but on either hand at the 

 front gate are flowers. Large clusters of white 

 lilies grow by each post, and cinnamon pink, lark- 

 spur, ragged robin, and many sweet, old-fashioned 

 l)looms overflow the beds. Straight down the cen- 

 ter is anotlier l)ig flower-])ed, and at each side of it 

 squares of radishes, onions, lettuce, salsify, spinach, 

 stra\\berries, — everything edilile, and all flower- 

 bordered. In each corner is a peach tree, and there 

 are others scattered here and there. 



242 



