OUR FAVORITE JAUNTS 



the clumps are separated from the tangle of growth 

 around them. The men work busily but cautiously, 

 protecting the roots with balls of earth and carrying 

 the clumps when excavated to the waiting wagon. 

 There they are placed as close together as possible; 

 and with the exception of a short intermission at noon- 

 time this proceeding is repeated until dusk. 



It is impossible for the woman in the party to sit idle 

 in the midst of so much industry. She may assist in 

 the selection of desirable booty, or pick armfuls of 

 pitcher plants to carry away for home study, or she 

 may wander cautiously among the closely growing 

 larches, standing quiet for long intervals the better to 

 observe the strange life of the morass; she may even 

 venture into the more open spaces whose quaking bogs 

 are half hidden under a wealth of heavenly bloom; 

 for blue is the wild flag, and blue is the swamp lobelia, 

 and blue is the blue-eyed grass in tones of magical 

 beauty. Hundreds of shooting stars nod their heads 

 gently, and the anemone-like flowers of the swamp 

 galium unfold from their stalks of clasping leaves. 



237 



