180 THE PICNIC ON OLD ADAM 



he got the bark off they were smooth and white 

 like satin. It was not so easy to make the 

 sticks like knives, for they could never be real 

 sharp. 



Tommy stopped a minute from building the oven 

 to look at the things Herr Wilhelm Fritz had 

 made, and the minute he felt the wood he made a 

 great scowl. 



" That's Azalea wood, Herr Wilhelm Fritz," 

 he said ; " you shouldn't destroy those bushes." 



" You like to eat vid your fingers, or wid chop- 

 sticks like Chinese ? " Herr Wilhelm Fritz asked. 

 " Dat vood is soft and goot ter vittle, and I hav' 

 ter hurry up already." 



Still Tommy was very displeased because Ke 

 knew Wilhelm Fritz had been cutting the Wild 

 Azalea bushes that were in bloom farther down 

 in the wood and near the swamp. They were not 

 exactly the same Azaleas that Grandmother and 

 I had found along Wild Honeysuckle Lane, but 

 they were so much like them that few children 

 could tell the difference. 



Afterward Tommy told me that instead of be- 

 ing rose color, their flowers were white, tinted with 

 pink, and very, very fragrant. Then they waited 

 until the leaves were all out to unfold, while the 

 one Grandmother and I found, opened both its 

 leaves and flowers at the same time. 



" This one likes to grow near water," Tommy 

 said. " It is called White Swamp Honeysuckle, 



