Oldal 114 [114]
OCR
GZ ETT SOOO sz — ÉTÉ ÉTÉ ——JONK Poe PAMES RIVER: (P'OAN TATION, + BELT =a —S SS stőláge to end its pilgrimage at the high brick wall which secludes from idle gaze the Temple burying-ground. This six-foot wall, covered with the grays and golds of age and topped with crescent bricks, is in such good repair that the only break in it was made when it was built, and this was to permit the entrance way. Roses and periwinkle here live together as kindred in a spot as peaceful as the imagination can picture. A wistaria of patriarchal age, with gnarled and knotted stem, with ivy of ancient lineage, drape the walls and festoon the tombs, the oldest of which dates back to 1800. To the south and the east and the north of the graveyard the apple orchard of about fifteen acres extends. 3 In April, the rosy-red bud unfolds its blossoms near this garden. In May, a dogwood pitches its tent within its borders. In June, the frail mimosas call to the humming-birds, which fly to it from the acacias that overshadow it from the lawn. With September, the hickory and walnut trees give warning of autumn’s onslaught. Then comes the glory of flaming maples, which lose their leaves only in time to give way to the blue and red berries of cedar and holly which brighten old Ampthill till spring. And it is in the spring that the old place is at its loveliest, for then the apple trees are in full bloom. At this season no one walks in the garden or stands on the lawn, but is told some tale of haunted chambers or of water sprites seen on calm May ‘nights dancing in the lowlands. For, when the gorse throws out its gold banners and the apple trees pitch their pink tents, Colonel Cary walks once more in his garden to see if all goes well with his place. This old garden in its calm repose means—ah, so much! Memories come to the least romantic and fancy slips back over the bridge of two hundred years to recall what Ampthill stood for in the days of the English Georges. But, the thing of all others that appeals to us of this later and much changed day, is the human interest the old garden awakens. It is this very quality that lends to the semi-neglected spot its elusive, haunting charm. [69]
