OUR FAVORITE JAUNTS 



views from the summits, at last we turn in at a gate- 

 way and behold at the foot of a steep hill sparkling 

 water covered with acres of flowers. 



In the foreground are water-lilies, their tinted pads 

 moving with the ripples ; beyond rise the blue stalks 

 of the pickerel weed from among the lotus blossoms. 

 And those blossoms, — creamy with a tinge of green 

 on the outside of the petals, — each of them holds in 

 its rich yellow stamens so powerful a perfume that 

 the still air is heavy with its breath. The large round 

 leaves with their exquisite coloring stand out more than 

 a foot above the water, while the buds and blossoms 

 just o'ertop them, making an extraordinary picture. In 

 Japan this would be a place of yearly pilgrimage; in 

 Europe one of the noted attractions; here it is be- 

 ginning to be well known, and hundreds of visitors 

 come in small boats and launches to exclaim over its 

 beauty and, alas! to carry away as much of it as they 

 can. This is a fruitless although tempting procedure, 

 as the buds rarely open well; and if the expanded 

 flower is picked it closes at once and does not revive. 



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