The hen had to stand on the bushes straddling 

 the nest in order to brood. How she ever got as 

 close to the nest as that without spilling its con- 

 tents was hard to see ; for I took an egg out and 

 had the greatest difficulty in putting it back, so 

 little room was there, so near to nothing for it 

 to rest upon. 



Working back into the channel, I gave the 

 skiff to the easy current and drew slowly along 

 toward the foot of the pond. 



The sun had gone down behind the hill ; the 

 flame had faded from the sky, and over the 

 rim of the circling slopes poured the soft, cool 

 twilight, with a breeze as soft and cool, and a 

 spirit that was prayer. Drifting across the 

 pond as gently as the gray half-light fell a 

 shower of lint from the willow catkins. The 

 swallows had left ; but from the leafy darkness 

 of the copse in front of me, piercing the dreamy, 

 foamy roar of the distant dam, came the notes 

 of a wood-thrush, pure, sweet, and peaceful, 

 speaking the soul of the quiet time. My boat 

 grated softly on the sandy bottom of the cove 

 and swung in. Out from the deep shadow of the 

 wooded shore, out over the pond, a thin white 

 10 [145] 



