OUR COUNTRY LIFE 



morning paper from the near-by city and the mail 

 have arrived. Before the open fire, a tiny table is 

 spread, and one feeds the body and the mind at the 

 same time. Just outside the window the hairy and the 

 downy woodpeckers come to feast on the suet tied to 

 the nearest tree, and the little brown creeper keeps up 

 his interminable perambulations. Luncheon over, I 

 sit down at my desk to write, for never is one so in- 

 clined to answer a letter as when it is first received. 

 After business notes have been attended to, checks sent, 

 invitations acknowledged, then the mind is free, and we 

 turn to the absent friend. That record of experiences 

 and interchange of thoughts between congenial minds 

 which our modern methods of life tend to discourage 

 — what a comfort to find leisure for their indulgence! 

 I have drawn my desk close to the window and am 

 on guard over the birds' table; for those fat rascals, the 

 squirrels, have discovered its attractions, and the mo- 

 ment I leave, one of them takes possession, sitting 

 contentedly munching the cracked corn while his com- 

 panions await their turn with more or less patience. 



248 



