THE WILD GARDEN. 161 
underfoot ere I was aware; the imitative whorled foliage of the 
medeolas having beguiled my discrimination. The secret was 
safe, this secluded haunt having been selected as the choice of 
all the earth by a nestling whippoorwill, which fluttered 
,from my feet, disclosing her downy brood like a spot of Ne 
mould down there on the brown leaves. But my po 9 ayy 
gonias were long past their prime, and I could get a _ - 
little idea of their flower. Here bloomed, also, the Ais Wr 
small green orchis and the purple-fringed orchis, i 4 
the Uvularias, and the cranesbill and loosestrife, € ‘ff 84 fas 
and the Solomon’s-seal with its palm-like spray  & ; 
and drooping yellowish pendants, and the An- i 
dromeda with its chime of ten thousand bells. 
.The swamp azalea shed a slight fragrance 
from its remnant blossoms, and offered its juicy 
apples that to me are never offered in vain. 
That whispered password to the pogonia 
opened the door also to a rare wild-flower i% 
bed that justly deserves the fame it has a 
won. All the dwellers of the “forest a 
ledge” were here; the rue and maiden- -\¢ 
hair; the early harebells hung from 
the crags above, and continued the YP ands 
dance which the lingering “rock-lov- sagas ZY > a, 
ing columbines” were now bequeath- ~~ Ca 
ing; while the spotted leaves of liver- 
worts, and spiry pods of bloodroots, and the 
plenteous foliage of rue-anemone, and wind- 
flower, and matted beds of arbutus, bore witness 
of what a rare May-day had been celebrated hereabouts, and 
doubtless the sweet deerberry, with its fragrant bells, and. the 
airy fumitory were there, draping the rocks, could I only have 
happened their way. 
The lofty gnarled laurels ever and anon protested “no thor- 
oughfare” as I crossed their path; and once, having made the 
breach, somewhat to the disparagement of my garments, I was 
21 
