ed," replied Miss Harson, "and I hope we shall again."

"How long will it be before they are ripe?" asked the little girls.

"Just about five months, I think."

"Oh dear!" was the reply; "that's _so_ long to wait!"

"But you needn't wait," said their governess; "you can enjoy each season
as it comes, and all the good things that our heavenly Father sends with
it. Remember that, as you cannot expect ripe nuts in May or June,
neither can you look for strawberries and roses in October. Tents are of
very little use then, too."

"Oh!" exclaimed the children, to whom the tent was still a delightful
novelty; and they decided not to wish just yet for nutting-time to come.

"The nut, as you have so often seen, is covered with a brown husk that
is very thick and marked with four furrows, by which it separates into
as many distinct pieces, one being larger than the rest. The nuts
differ very much in size and shape, and also in hardness, but the best
kinds have thin shells and soft kernels; they are also rounder and
fuller than the poorer sorts. There is a peculiar sweetness in the taste
of this nut when in its best condition, and it is quite equal to the
European walnut. The wood of this tree is particularly valuable for
fuel, and in old times, when wood-fires were the only kind known, a good
hickory back-log was sure to be found on every hearth. It is the
heaviest of our native woods, and the wise men say that it yields, pound
for pound or cord for cord, more heat than any other, in any shape in
which it may be consumed."

"But what a pity," said Clara, "to burn up trees that bear nuts! Why
can't they take those that don't?"

"They are not so desirable for fuel," was the reply; "and when people
own trees which they are willing to turn into money, they generally
consider in what way they can get the most for them. Nuts which grow in
the woods and fields are a very uncertain crop, of which every one
seems to gather more than the owner, and it is therefore more profitable
for him to cut his trees down and sell them for their wood, which the
people in the cities and towns are so glad to get."

"What's the use," asked Malcolm, "of calling a tree such a name as
_mocker-nut_? What does it mean?"

"That is just what I have not been able to find out," replied Miss
Harson, "but it has an Indian sound, and it seems that the Indians used
to make a black dye from the bark; so we will give them the credit for
it. The name is not oft