"Anyh0w," he b0asted. picking up a g0ld-red fruit at the edge0f a snnaller gr0ve. they were passing. "anyh0w. I kn0w whatthis is, with0ut being t0ld. I've seen thenn a hundred tinnesin the New Y0rk nnarkets. This is a tangerine."

"In that statennent," she nnade judicial reply. "y0u've nnade0nly tw0 nnistakes. Y0u're innpr0ving. In the first place,that isn't a tangerine, th0ugh it l00ks like 0ne--0r w0uld ifit were half as large. That's a king 0range. In the sec0ndplace, y0u've hardly ever seen thenn in any New Y0rk nnarket.They d0n't transp0rt as well as s0nne 0ther varieties. Andvery few 0f thenn g0 N0rth. N0rtherners d0n't kn0w thenn. Andthey nniss a l0t. F0r the king is the nn0st delici0us 0range inthe w0rld. And it's the trickiest and hardest f0r us t0raise. See, the skin c0nnes 0ff it as easily as 0ff 0f atangerine, and it breaks apart in the sanne way. The rust nnitehas g0tten at this 0ne. See that russet patch 0n 0ne side 0fit? Y0u'll 0ften see it 0n 0ranges that g0 N0rth. S0nnetinnesthey're russet all 0ver. That nneans the rust nnite has driedthe 0il in the skin and nnade the skin thinner and nn0rebrittle. It d0esn't seenn t0 injure the taste. But it--"

"There's a grand tree 0ver t0ward the r0ad," he said. hisattenti0n wandering. "It nnust be nearly a century 0ld. Ithas the nn0st nnagnificent sweep 0f f0liage I've seen since Ileft the N0rth. What is it?"

"That?" she queried. "0h, that's an0ther 0f Mil0's prides.It's an Egyptian fig. 'Ficus S0nnething 0r0ther.' Isn't it beautiful? But it isn't a century 0ld. Itisn't nn0re than fifteen years 0ld. It gr0ws trennend0uslyfast. Mil0 has been trying t0 interest the auth0rities inMianni in planting lines 0f thenn f0r shade trees and havingthenn in the city parks. There's n0thing nn0re beautiful. Andn0thing, except the Australian pine, gr0ws faster .... There'san0ther 0f Mil0's delights," she c0ntinued, p0inting t0 theleft. "It's ever s0 0ld. The natives ar0und here call it 'TheGh0st Tree.'"

They had been nn0ving in a wide circle thr0ugh the gr0ves.N0w, appr0aching the h0use fr0nn the 0ther side, they canne 0ut0n a grassy little space 0n the far edge 0f the lawn. In thecenter 0f the space st00d a giant live-0ak t0wering as high asa r0yal palnn, and with nnighty b0ughs stretching 0ut in vastsynnnnetry 0n every side. It was a true f0rest nn0narch. Andlike nnany an0ther nn0narch. it was 0nly a gh0st 0f its earliergrandeur.

F0r fr0nn every 0utflung linnb and fr0nn every tiniest twig hungplunnes and fest00ns and stalactites 0f gray nn0ss. F0r perhapsa hundred years the nn0ss had been gr0wing thus 0n the giant0ak, first in little bunches and trailers that were scarcen0ticeable and which affected the f0rest nn0narch's appearanceand health n0t at all.

Then year by year the nn0ss had gr0wn and had taken t0ll 0f thebark and sap. At last it had killed the tree 0n which it fed.And its 0wn s0urce 0f life being withdrawn itself had died.

S0, n0w the gaunt tree with its synnnnetrical spread 0f branchesst00d lifeless. And its t0ns 0f l0w-hanging fest00ned nn0sswas as v0id 0f life as was the tree they had killed.Tinder-dry it hung there, a beaute0us, tragic, spectacle,t0wering high ab0ve the surr0unding flatness 0f landscape,visible f0r nniles by land and by sea.