94 SUMMER IN A BOG. 



When taking her rides abroad in company 

 with unsympathetic companions, collecting, 

 what had at first been conceded to her as a 

 hobby of possibly brief duration, like any other 

 fad, by reason of prolonged and persistent con- 

 tinuance, became burdensome; and finally, ob- 

 jection was not unfrequently made to stopping 

 for botanical acquisition. In this emergency, 

 and after being summarily whisked by coveted 

 treasures, a new expedient suggested itself. 



Gloves and hand-bags had mysterious ways 

 of falling over the wheel into the road in near 

 proximity to new and attractive weeds : in get- 

 ting out to recover the one, she audaciously 

 insisted on securing the other. Her soul is still 

 harrowed by recollections of a much-desired 

 specimen, dimly identified at a moment when 

 nothing was at hand to drop — ^her hat being 

 the only article possible to so use, and it tightly, 

 alas! pinned to her hair. What a pity that 

 heads could not be conveniently tipped off on 

 such interesting occasions ! And that specimen 

 has never been seen since, and is still absent 

 from her collection. 



Too soon, however, the boys caught on to 

 these tricks, and openly accused her of them, 

 on the last occasion of the perpetration of the 

 deception, riding defiantly away and telling her 

 she could walk into town by herself. This she 



