This plant, like the
red-berried briony of England, is highly ornamental. It possesses powerful
properties as a medicine, and is in high reputation among the Indians.]
among the branches [Illustration: THE FIRST BREAKFAST] of the trees, which
it covered as with a mantle. A pure spring of cold, delicious water welled
out from beneath the twisted roots of an old hoary-barked cedar, and found
its way among the shingles on the beach to the lake, a humble but constant
tributary to its waters. Some large blocks of water-worn stone formed
convenient seats and a natural table, on which the little maiden arranged
the forest fare; and never was a meal made with greater appetite or taken
with more thankfulness than that which our wanderers ate that morning. The
eggs (part of which they reserved for another time) were declared to be
better than those that were daily produced from the little hen-house at
Cold Springs. The strawberries, set out in little pottles made with the
shining leaves of the oak, ingeniously pinned together by Catharine with
the long spurs of the hawthorn, [Footnote: The long-spurred American
hawthorn may be observed by our young readers among that beautiful
collection of the hawthorn family and its affinities, which flourish on the
north side of Kensington Gardens.
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