And then--then, ere my wonder has had time to fade, it is summer. The
ground opens, and there springs up, on all sides, a veritable sea of
vivid, variegated colour,--scarlet, pink, and white geraniums; red,
white and yellow roses; golden honeysuckle; bright-hued marigolds;
purple pansies; pale forget-me-nots; wallflowers; sweet peas;
many-tinted azaleas; showy hydrangeas; giant rhododendrons; foxgloves,
buttercups, daisies, hollyhocks, and heliotropes; a floral host too
varied to enumerate.
Overcome with admiration, bewildered with happiness, I kneel on the
soft carpet of grass, and, burying my face extravagantly, in alternate
laps of luxurious, downy, scent-laden petals, fill my lungs with
soul-inspiring nectar.
My intoxication has barely worn off before my eyes are dimly conscious
that the soil all around me is generously besprinkled with the remains
of my floral friends. I spring hurriedly to my feet, and, gazing
anxiously about me, suddenly perceive the gaily nodding heads of new
arrivals--dahlias, sunflowers, anemones, chrysanthemums. As I continue
gazing, the aromatic odour of mellow apples from the Hennersley
orchards reaches my nostrils; I turn round, and there, there in front
of me, I see row upon row of richly-laden fruit trees, their leaves a
brilliant copper in the scintillating rays of the ruddy autumn sun. I
gasp for breath--the beauty of tint and tone surpasses all that I have
hitherto seen--it is sublime, the grand climax of transformation.
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