38 LEAVES FROM AN APRIL JOURNAL. 



side to side, as if he were keeping a sharp lookout 

 for the welfare of his troops, and had a world of 

 trouble on his mind. How perfectly is the align- 

 ment of that arrow-head maintained, each indi- 

 vidual in the flight preserving the " regulation " 

 distance, as a company of well-drilled soldiers. 

 Why do they fly in two lines, approximating to a 

 point, if not for the purpose of rendering their 

 progress easier, by cleaving the air as the prow of 

 a ship cuts the waters of the ocean ? Looking at 

 the strong, steady flight of these navigators with 

 their compasses in their heads, and studying the 

 chart below them, as they sail along, one is inclined 

 to believe that the goose should not be the syno- 

 nym of stupidity and dullness. It would be curi- 

 ous to know toward what peculiar northern lake 

 or river they are heading, or have in their minds. 

 Is it Memphremagog or St. Lawrence, or is it some 

 river farther northward along the Labrador coast? 

 A few sullen days are interspersed when the 

 hands on the dial of the month are moved back- 

 ward and seem to frighten the young spring away. 

 The wind, blowing from the icebergs of the high 

 northern seas, brings in its breath and scatters in 

 its ti'ack, rheumatism and other diseases that the 

 New Englander is heir to. Even the jays and 



