THE ELM FAMILY 145 



Y-shaped prongs with his knuckles down and his 

 thumbs outward. The rod was pointed straight 

 forward, and when water was "found" the 

 stick twisted over of its own accord till the 

 foot of the Y pointed toward the ground. It 

 was a marvelous performance, and nothing 

 could shake our faith in the old man's power. 

 Usually, too, water was found where he indi- 

 cated; if it was not, the water was there all 

 right; the men had not dug down far enough! 

 It is said that "divining rods" cut from the 

 cherry tree are equally as effective as those 

 taken from the wych-elm. We see no reason to 

 doubt the statement. 



