THE AUTUMN PANORAMA 189 
This is a good beechnut season, and the satis- 
faction of gathering and eating a few plump triangular 
nuts is a proof that man was intended to satisfy his 
own wants* The finest products of tropical countries 
can never give the same satisfaction as the beechnuts 
gathered from among the leaves with our own eager 
fingers, or plucked from the branches after a laborious 
climb* The Wild Plum hidden in the woods, the 
Mandrake, the Ground Cherry, the Choke Cherry, 
all have charms above the finest fruit of the orchard 
to those who know their haunts and seek them in 
their seasons* A gardener may supply Mushrooms 
at any season, but he cannot give the relish that comes 
from gathering them in the grey, misty twilight, when 
the lingering dew forms in crystal globes in the 
sunken leaves and delineates every thread in the 
cobwebs on the grass. And when the double report 
of a shotgun comes over from the marsh we must 
temper our condemnation of the cruel, killing pro- 
pensity with thoughts of the tempting satisfaction of 
winning food from reluctant nature* The real enjoy- 
ment of a Blue-bill or Whistle-wing is known only 
to those who have seen it careen over the decoys* 
Squirrels take special delight in mocking other 
Beechnut gatherers* They scatter the shrunken, 
unfilled nuts all about, and leer from the upper 
branches at the disappointment of the bipeds under 
the trees. Plump, full nuts they never throw down, 
