The Joyful Heart

der the spell of the place. Nevertheless, we had decided to move on soon-to try, in fact, another trip through Italy. Our friendly neighbors

les, inviting further explorations. We pushed through a dense undergrowth and presently were in a grove of great white pines. There was a faint sound of running water, and suddenly we came upon an astonishing brook-wide, swift, and

lace for

in with a big s

d cautiously among the briers. But when we came once more to the veteran pines, they seemed more glamorous than ever in the moonlight, especially one that stood near a large holly, apart from the

had bette

hill. Out of a dense oak grove we suddenly emerged

," I

of moonlit marshes, and beyond them a gleam-perhaps from some

but

tely company of red cedars, comely and dense and mysterious as

a place fo

was the answer, "and ma

us at last. Our hands met in compact. As we strolled reluctantly homeward to a ten-o'clock dinner we talked of road-making, swamps, pneumatic water-systems, the nim