176 DATS OUT OF DOORS. 



worm fence, would ofEer a cool shade for a moment's rest, 

 but the comfort I fancied proved a fancy only. Then the 

 road turned abruptly and a hedge of nature's planting 

 cast a long shadow ; here I tarried, doubtful if anything 

 better could be found. The panting sparrow from the 

 fields beyond gathered here, and squirrels, snakes, and 

 turtles found it a pleasant refuge. But for me the spot 

 proved a relief merely by contrast, and I foresaw the com- 

 ing noon-tide. It would surely prove but a fool's paradise, 

 and the cool retreat for which I had started loomed up as 

 a garden of delights. I turned without regret from the 

 birds in the hedge, though they sang cheerily, and the 

 wild roses that brightened the shady nooks, and again 

 hurried on until the old mill was reached. 



There is something sweetly seductive in those words, 

 " the old mill." How vividly the broad pond with its 

 deeply indented shores and floating isles of lilies comes to 

 mind ! And the tumbling waters at the dam ; the mill 

 itself, dusty with the grists of ages ; and the sparkling race, 

 where the freed waters rejoice as though conscious of 

 valued labors well performed. Not a feature here but 

 suggests escape from tropical July ; still I pass all by un- 

 heeded, and, with careful steps and slow, seek that mys- 

 terious depth beneath the mill where steadily, for nearly a 

 century, a dripping wheel has turned. Not a ray of the 

 outer world's bright sunshine could reach me here, and 

 glittering moss replaced the parched grasses of the road-r 

 side. 



But my friend had hoaxed me. Of course it was a 

 cool retreat, but the hygrometric conditions were not t<5 be 

 ignored. Cool, but oh, so wondrous damp ! The very air 

 was dripping with tangible mist. I had been victimized, 

 but my thoughtlessness deserved the punishment. Still, 

 a few minutes spent in such a place could work no ill, 

 and I ventured, as a zoologist, upon its exploration be- 



