Page:Poems of Nature and Life.djvu/82

 74 INTRODUCTION

ficiently, Mr. Randall took a paper of sandwiches out of his pocket and invited me to sit down and eat dinner, which I accordingly did. When we were done, we re- sumed our way and passed a most charming little lake, sunk in a sloping hollow and shaded by trees on all sides. I have very seldom seen a more beautiful little sheet of water. It was so small that it was entirely shaded by the tall trees, and it seemed made for fairies. We stopped at the house of Mr. Randall's cousins, and stayed a little while. As I was very thirsty, I asked for a glass of water, which was very good, but not quite enough. When we left, Mr. Randall told me that one of the ladies I had just seen was a great botanist, and almost equal to Dr. Bige- low. It was so hot that I was soon panting for water, and, coming to a pump, drank pretty freely. After walk- ing about a mile, we came to Assabet, where the railroad station was, and here I saw a very large ice-house, on the shore of a pond formed by a very pretty dam. After waiting a little while, the cars came thundering along, and we took our seats. In a few minutes we got out at Rock- bottom, the name of one of the Stow villages. From thence we walked to Mr. Randall's house through the woods, and we had a very pleasant walk. We got there a little while before dark, and the first thing I did was to go to the pump and get a draught. After supper we talked and read, and, as I felt pretty tired, we went to bed early. I slept with Mr. Randall [and I shall never forget the brilliant and fascinating way in which, during two or three hours, he told me De La Motte Fouque's exquisite story of Undine].

" Stcnday, May 4. This morning, as I was quite tired last night, I slept very late, and Mr. Randall told me that he did not like to wake me up. We ate breakfast, and then,

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