30 THE SPIRIT OF SECRET VALLEY 



and because it is a bush instead of a tall tree, it 

 is easy to get up close to it and look at its pretty, 

 fluffy flowers. They are quite a pale yellow, and 

 grow together in little bunches all along the sides 

 of the bare twigs. As yet there is not a single 

 leaf on the bushes. They burst out later. 



Grandmother thinks that when the Red Maple 

 and Spice Bush are blooming the woods are more 

 beautiful than at any other time. She told me 

 also that when we had our great War of the 

 Revolution, many housewives used the dried 

 leaves and berries of Spice Bushes in their cakes, 

 instead of spices. It was not easy then for peo- 

 ple to buy everything they wanted. 



But because the Spice Bush grows in our woods 

 and all along a little path on the way to the vil- 

 lage, I know it is not especially to see it that 

 Tommy goes to Secret Valley. 



The last time he came back from there he had 

 a very queer look, and I felt sure that something 

 had happened to him. He said he had gone to 

 the valley for a flower called Marsh Marigold; 

 but he came home without the least little sprig of 

 it, and this seemed strange as he wanted to show 

 it to me. I asked him what Marsh Marigold 

 looked like, and he said: " A big Buttercup, only 

 it is wide awake while the Buttercup is still asleep." 



Its leaves are very large and shiny, and it 

 grows in swampy places, where it is hard to 

 reach. Often Tommy finds it near Skunk Cabbage. 



