4 
THE SPIRIT OF SPRING 
life* A broken Sassafras twig fills the air with one 
of the most delightful of forest odours* It is hard to 
resist the boyish impulse to cut a Maple and taste 
the sap* But it is no more tempting than the perfume 
of a growing twig of Black Birch, broken where the 
winter buds are swelling* Nature has been dreaming 
under the white mantle that has just been drawn 
aside* Moss is melting holes for itself through the 
ice* The Wintergreen is all about in profusion, 
carpeting the ground with rich green leaves, dotted 
here and there with bright red berries* It has 
defied the frost, the snow and the ice of winter, and 
now offers up its tempting berries, pleasant in flavour 
and odour as they are beautiful in colour and contrast* 
The Trailing Arbutus, too, has a vitality that 
defies the winter, and its green leaves are showing 
above the litter of last year's vegetation* Those who 
are robbing the suburban woods of this flower have 
a great sin to answer for, but the temptation also 
is so great that one cannot but forgive them* The 
flowers are already formed and the pinky white is 
protruding from the little green buds* In a day they 
will be opened, the sweet perfume leading to their 
destruction by revealing their hiding places under 
the dead leaves* The man or woman who can pass a 
Trailing Arbutus in flower and not pluck it is as 
near to perfection as it is possible for weak humanity 
to approach* Down by the swampy margin the ice is 
