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 so familiar to her on
former visits. They passed the small, stone school house at the
crossroads, and in a short time the horses turned obediently into the
lane leading to the barn a country lane in very truth, a tangle of
blackberry vines, wild rose bushes, by farmers called "Pasture Roses,"
interwoven with bushes of sumach, wild carrots and golden rod.

Mary insisted that her Uncle drive directly to the barn, as was his
usual custom, while she was warmly welcomed at the farm house gate by
her Aunt. As her Uncle led away the horses, he said, "I will soon join