44 
THE BEAUTIFUL LADDER. 
native cranberries which grow abundantly on 
their borders. 
“ It was the paradise of the whole genera¬ 
tion of frogs, from the little piping tenor, whose 
rapid notes so nearly resemble the clatter of 
the watchmaji’s rattle, to the monster bullfrog, 
whose sonorous bass boomed across march 
and mere: 
‘ The fenny frogs, with croakings hoarse and deep, 
And gnats, loud buzzing, drive away our sleep.’ 
Clouds of Canadian geese or ducks hov¬ 
ered over the place in the spring and fall, and 
made the waters dark as they tarried to feed 
during their annual migrations. To add to the 
weird music, they filled the night with their 
garrulous complainings, and met with a dismal 
response from numberless owls, who hovered 
there for the rich banqueting furnished by the 
frogs and young ducklings. It was a scene of 
unearthly din, and the visible scenic revelations 
were in harmonious keeping with the uncouth 
minstrelsy of the place. At times swarms of 
fire-flies were so thick as fairly to illuminate 
the dark landscape, often seemingly led, like an 
army of fire-fiends, by some vagrant Will-d-the- 
