172 A Day's Digging 



of meaning, or brought me so closely in touch 

 with the past, as when I uncovered what 

 remained of the old Dutch trader's house ; 

 traced the boundaries of the one-time pleas- 

 ure-garden, hearing in the songs of birds the 

 clinking of glasses, and then, in fancy, adding 

 to the now deserted landscape the fur-laden 

 canoes of the Indians who once gathered here 

 to exchange for the coveted gaudy beads the 

 skins of the many animals which at that time 

 roamed the forests. 



