Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1882-05-24

fiat rocks. Out Of these lurking places IL |
will spring with vigor that sends the sand |
flying in clouds into the water Just before |
Ned spoke the darter had been quietly lying |
half under the sand beside one of the fresh |
young water plants. OF sudden IL gave |
one Of Its impulsive springs, and completely |
uprooted the plant beside it. Then it set |
tied down upon its tail and fins with look |
of the most exasperating impudence, a look |
like that Of the village shrew, who with |
arms akimbo answers her offended neighbor
with "What are you going TO do about
it ?" al fancy" said mother, "that the
darter is second cousin to the squirrel, who
is another of the three restless, nervous
creatures that never move without a dash
and an excitement. EYES," replied Mary,
/" that squirrel in our grove acts Just as this
fish does. Whenever go out there, l see
him whisking about as If he had but five
minutes in which to pack his trunk before
going to the train. He will sit on low
limb chattering and scolding at me with the
greatest vehemence, and all Of a sudden,
without any interruption of his scolding, he
will throw himself into a new attitude with
such a startling quickness as fairly to make
me jump" Thus, led on by fancy, we trav-
ersed the kingdom of nature, seeking for
types of the restlessness of life. We thought
the house wren would represent this in bird
life, for he hardly stops his pert Fittings long
enough to sing strain of his rich music.
The wren in a lovable bird, for he always
seems in cheerful mood. To be sure, he
does fight with other birds that intrude upon
his premises, but even in pitched battle he
seems to keep his jolly temper and good hu-
NOR. | know it is very wrong, but we
rather enjoy seeing the wren in our bird
house carry on his little campaigns. There
is 80 little damage done by the tiny combat
ants, and they are so refined and dainty
throughout the whole proceeding, that the
old-Adam in our natures rises unrebuked TO
rejoice in this aesthetic presentation of itself.
How can we be angry at the voracious little
creature who, as soon as the quarrel is over,
forgets his tiny wrath, darts to the topmost
apple-bough, and there, with utter self-aban-
donlnent, pours forth melody of
Notes that wing their heavenly ways
To mend the chors above"
Like the darter fish, the wren is great
fellow to get into unheard-of places. He
explores knotholes and drain pipes builds
his nest in old boots and hubs of wheels.
His life, his journeyings and his doings are
constant surprise to the sedate mind Of
man. When we came to the insect world,
we were not long in selecting class of in
sects that show the impulsive temperament
OF which we were in search. Helen sug-
gested the skipper butterflies, which really
bear most striking resemblance to our dar-
ter fish. Like him they are among the
smallest of their tribe. Like him they have
large heads with protruding eyes. Like
him they move about with sudden, restless
jerks from one alighting spot to another.
They are uneasy, hutter about, seemingly
at random over the meadows, and well de-
serve their name of shippers. They are
very hard to CATCH aud often elude even the
Yankee boys who chase them in our fields.
| The darter, the squirrel, the wren and the
skipper are hard to outwit, but the Yankee
boy can do it, for he has the same dashing
energy that gives them their daredevil
craftiness. The old Adam within us again
feels fiattered in the presence of the skipper
4 butterflies. The impulsive freedom of their
motions, and their reckless disregard of all
butterfly propriety, fascinate us, and set the
hot blood stirring as it stirred of old in the
bold hearts of the crusaders. For an in
slant we long to throw aside the fetters of
civilization, don our armor, and ride to bat
tie with the Saracens. 'Tis only for an in
stant, for we at once remember that these
are the days of arbitration, and that the
skipper butterflies are not in accord with
the staid sobriety of the nineteenth century.
Mary declared that her department must
not be sighted, " for" said she, az have in
my mind plant as impulsive as the skip
pers, and far more intelligent, for its impul-
siveness accomplishes good work, while
those pretty little insects Just skip for the
sake of skipping" Father looked skeptical,
and Helen seemed inclined to defend her
favorites, but Mary proceed to justify her
assertion, 81 mean the touch-me-not or
jewel-weed. When its seed.pods are ripe, if
they are touched they spring open with a
quickness like the leap of squirrel, and
scatter their seeds over the ground. Thus
they do the good work of which | spoke"
Thus we traced impetuosity through the
animal kingdom to its blossom in the touch
me-not. Father was anxious to fill out the
series with an example of impulsiveness in
inanimate nature. Earthquakes were too
too savage to correspond to wrens and squir-
rels "The only thing | can think Of" said
father, SIS fiat stone skipping over the
surface Of pond, but as that requires boy
power to start it, fear it will not answer"
Fish, bird, mammal, insect, plant; rather
an incongruous gathering yet they clearly
have something in common. They are all
shippers. In our expressive New England
dialect there is word that well shows this
common element. 1t is spunk. Not a
scholarly word that, but one that every
Yankee boy knows the meaning of, and it
is refreshing to find that plants, birds and
fish can be spunky as well as boys, and that
we may see ourselves mirrored in the world
around us. This may seem rather fanciful,
but what would become of the scientific
brain if it did not once in a while unbend
itself from stern pursuit of learning and try
to get "near to natures heart ?" The poet
reads nature as truly and sometimes more
deeply than the mere man of science, so
with the poet say
| sit thee there, and send abroad,
with mind self over-awed,
| Fancy, high gh-commssioned-aend her
| She has yassals TO attend her;
| She will bring In spite of frost,
| beauties that the earth hath lost;
| She will bring thee all together,
| All delights OF summer weather;
All the buds and bells OF May
| From dewy sward or thorny spray;
| All the heaped autumn's wealth;
| With still mysterious stealth.