g "sitting," and were now on
their way to the house.

Clara's first glance, on doing as she had been directed, fell on three
trees by the side of a fence, that were different from any they had
yet studied.

"What do you notice about them?" continued Miss Harson; "for I wish you
to use your own eyes and thoughts as much as possible."

"Why, the trunk is dark gray, and it isn't smooth, but it looks as if
some one had dug out long, thin pieces of bark."

"We will call it 'deeply furrowed,'" said her governess, "as that is a
better expression; but your description is very good indeed."

"The leaves are ever so pretty," said Malcolm--"so many of 'em on one
stem!--and the green looks as if it was just made."

"You mean by that, I suppose," replied Miss Harson, "that it is a very
fresh tint; and we are seeing it in its first beauty now. This is the
locust tree, and May is its time for leafing out in the tenderest of
greens. The pinnate--from _pinna_, Latin for feather'--leaves are
composed of from nine to twenty-five leaflets, which are egg-shaped,
with a short point, very smooth, light green above and still lighter
beneath. These leaves are much liked by cattle, and they are said to be
very nutritious to them."

[Illustration: FOLIAGE OF HONEY-LOCUST.]

"How can you remember everything so, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm, lost
in wonder, as the young lady, looking up at the trees, said these things
as if they had been written there. John had declared that she talked
like a book, and this seemed more like it than ever.

"Oh no," was the laughing reply; "I do not remember _everything_,
Malcolm, and perhaps it is just as well that I do not. But I will not
tax my memory any more about the locust just now; we can take it up
again this evening."

"I should like to know," exclaimed Clara, after some thought, "why a
tree is called _locust_, when a locust is such a disagreeable insect?"

"I am afraid that I cannot tell you," replied Miss Harson, "unless the
color of the leaves is similar to that of the 'disagreeable insect,'
which is really very handsome, or unless the insects are very partial to
the tree; I have seen no explanation of it. But the tree itself is very
much admired, with its profusion of pinnate leaves and racemes of
flowers that fill the air with the most agreeable odors."

"What color are the flowers, Miss Harson?" asked Malcolm.

"This description will tell you," was the reply. "The tree is not pretty
in