202 UNDER THE OPEN SKY 



Here is no uncertain note. It is not a 

 washed-out green, it is not a yellow patch 

 nor a yellow line, but a clear, vivid chrome 

 yellow, with a lustre and a glow that make 

 it no apology, but a glory. It does not 

 pretend to anything beyond, and the rich- 

 ness of its tone is its own justification. 



THE MAPLES 



The maples aim at a more aesthetic taste, 

 and they try their hands at the reds. They 

 practised a little, quietly, in the spring, and 

 now boldly attempt the work in the fall. 

 The sugar-maples are a little too staid to 

 accept the modern notions, and they paint 

 their autumn leaves a conventional yellow. 

 The silver maples put the red on in patches 

 and blotches. But the red maples, whose 

 'prentice work in the spring had been so 

 effective, now paint their leaves with mas- 

 terly skill. Beginning with the outer edge, 

 slowly they enrich the yellow, first with 

 golden, then with orange, and lastly with 

 red. And so the rainbow creeps in toward 

 the midrib of the leaf, which often is golden 

 to the last. 



