112 Next to the Ground 



full of berries gives you excellent good luck 

 in catching fish. At least old man Shack said 

 so — the old man was a welling fountain of 

 signs and superstitions. It is likely the poor 

 whites have a gypsy strain somewhere in their 

 pedigree. They are nearly as clannish as 

 gypsies — which in part accounts for their 

 evolution from the rags and tatters of early 

 immigration. The old man said he could find 

 water underground by the dipping of a forked 

 hazel or willow twig held in both hands. He 

 said also if he dared cut a forked twig of 

 strawberry bush and walk with it, he could 

 find hidden treasure, all round about. But 

 he was afraid .to try it — unless the twig was 

 cut by a left-handed man when the moon 

 and the sign both were just right, though 

 the rod would find right enough, the one 

 who carried it to its finding would die inside 

 half a year. 



Spice wood and the strawberry bush have 

 only beauty in common. Strawberry bush 

 twigs are green; the stem, when it reaches 

 tree size, is a soft pale-russet. It grows very 

 straight, branches almost at right angles, and 

 has the primmest of oval leaves coming out 

 in exact pairs. The leaves turn a mottled 

 greenish brown before the berries ripen. The 

 berries proper are small and shining. They 

 hang like coral drops at the ends of short 



