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fallen petals. The air was sweet with the perfume of the half-opened
buds on the apple trees in the near-by orchards and rose-like pink
blossoms of the "flowering" crab-apple, in the door yards. Swiftly
they drove through cool, green, leafy woods, crossing a wooden bridge
spanning a small stream, so shallow that the stones at the bottom were
plainly to be seen. A loud splash, as the sound of carriage wheels
broke the uninterrupted silence, and a commotion in the water gave
evidence of the sudden disappearance of several green-backed frogs,
sunning themselves on a large, moss-grown rock, projecting above the
water's edge; from shady nooks and crevices peeped clusters of early
white violets; graceful maidenhair ferns, and hardier members of the
fern family, called "Brake," uncurled their graceful, sturdy fronds
from the carpet of green moss and lichen at the base of tree trunks,
growing along the water's edge. Partly hidden by rocks along the bank
of the stream, nestled a few belated cup-shaped anemones or "Wind
Flowers," from which most of the petals had blown, they being one of
the earliest messengers of Spring. Through the undergrowth in the
woods, in passing, could be seen the small buds of the azalea or wild
honeysuckle, "Sheep's Laurel," the deep pink buds on the American
Judas tree, trailing vines of "Tea Berry," and beneath dead leaves one
caught an occasional glimpse of fragrant, pink arbutus. In marshy
places beside the creek, swaying in the wind from slender stems, grew
straw-colored, bell-shaped blossoms of "Adder's Tongue" or "Dog Tooth
Violet," with their mottled green, spike-shaped leaves. In the shadow
of a large rock grew dwarf huckleberry bushes, wild strawberry vines,
and among grasses of many varieties grew patches of white and
pink-tinted Alsatian clover.

Leaving behind the spicy, fragrant, "woodsy" smell of wintergreen,
birch and sassafras, and the faint, sweet scent of the creamy,
wax-like blossoms of "Mandrake" or May apple, peeping from beneath
large, umbrella-like, green leaves they emerged at last from the dim,
cool shadows of the woods into the warm, bright sunlight again.

Almost before Mary realized it, the farm house could be seen in the
distance, and her Uncle called her attention to his new, red barn,
which had been built since her last visit to the farm, and which, in
her Uncle's estimation, was of much greater importance than the house.

Mary greeted with pleasure the old landmarks