THE APPLE. 



I 3 I 



a rich bloom on it, and at least as ripe and well kept, 

 if no 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 leaves 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." 



