SUMMER IN THE MOUNTAINS 67 
carpet the fields with cloth-of-gold, and tapestry 
the hedges with gay colors, but the summer flowers 
are as nothing compared to the procession of fruits 
that, beginning in the spring with strawberries, lasts 
throughout the hot season. Strawberries at Traum- 
fest are ripe in May, and so are cherries, — what 
there are, for the cherry does not flourish here; and 
no sooner does the fruit turn red on the few trees 
lovingly watched by their owners than there appear 
upon the scene a large and happy flock of cedar wax- 
wings, for no sHght reason named "cherry-birds." 
When the procession of fruits is fairly started, you 
will have hard work to keep up with it for a few 
weeks. About Traumfest plums, peaches, peaches, 
peaches, berries, the most delicious of grapes, — 
Traumfest is noted for its grapes, — apples, — such 
as they are, — figs — and melons! Wagonloads of 
watermelons stand about waiting, not in vain, for 
customers. You know the approach of the melon 
season from the vanguard of empty rinds lying along 
the roadside. There is no trouble getting at a melon. 
All you need do is to "bust it open," root into the 
crisp, pink, and juicy interior with your hands, and 
go ahead. This the negro children do, lacking a 
knife, and you will see them, tears of pure delight, as 
it were, streaming from the corners of their happy 
mouths. The Southern watermelon! What other 
fruit ever bestowed such joy on humankind. To see 
a Carolina negro camped down before a big water- 
melon is to see what the philosophers try to make us 
believe does not exist, — a perfectly happy mortal. 
