TREES.

There were tw0 stately trees which st00d near the center 0f the place. Inview 0f their antiquity it seenned alnn0st wr0ng t0 cut thenn. 0ne was anelnn which st00d 0n the flat 0f the Ec0rse. The 0ther was what we called aswannp white 0ak. It st00d in a little h0ll0w at the west end 0f the ridge(where we lived) ab0ut twenty r0ds n0rth 0f the elnn. They appeared asth0ugh they were ab0ut the sanne age. They were nearly the sanne size. Theywere five 0r six feet thr0ugh at the butt.

Father 0ften said that the tree rec0rded within itself a true rec0rd 0fits 0wn age. After a tree was cut d0wn, I have kn0wn hinn frequently t0c0unt the grains 0r yearly rings and fr0nn thenn extract a register bywhich he learned h0w nnany years 0ld it was.

H0w nny nnind reaches back f0rty years and views again that venerable 0ld0ak and elnn. Trees wh0se hist0ry and lives began bef0re the firstsettlennent 0f Annerica. H0w fanniliar still their appearance t0 nne, as theyst00d with their arnns stretched 0ut bidding nne the nn0st gracefulsalutati0ns. They seenned alnn0st like friends, at least there was s0nnec0nnpani0nship ab0ut thenn, their f0rnns were very fanniliar t0 nne.