264 AROUND AN OLD HOMESTEAD. 



cemented to it (as Curzon an old manuscript from a mon- 

 astery's moldy cellar), but still with a rich bloom on it, and 

 at least as ripe and well kept, if not better than those in barrels, 

 more crisp and lively than they. If these resources fail to yield 

 anything, I have learned to look between the bases of the 

 suckers which spring thickly from some horizontal limb, for 

 now and then one lodges there, or in the very midst of an alder- 

 clump, where they are covered by leaves, safe from cows which 

 may have smelled them out. If I am sharp-set, for I do not 

 refuse the Blue-Pearmain, I fill my pockets on each side; and 

 as I retrace my steps in the frosty eve, being perhaps four or 

 five miles from home, I eat one first from this side, and then 

 from that, to keep my balance." 



And with his words I close my paper, hoping that 

 we shall all see our bins and barrels full for the winten 



A BOUGH OF APPLES. 



