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"Sweet days, so cool, so calm, so bright,
The bridal of the earth and sky,
Sweet dews shall weep thy fall to-night,
For thou must die."
^Herbert^.
When we returned to Hooksett, a week afterward, the melon man, in
whose corn-barn we had hung our tent and buffaloes and other
things to dry, was already picking his hops, with many women and
children to help him. We bought one watermelon, the largest in
his patch, to carry with us for ballast. It was Nathan's, which
he might sell if he wished, having been conveyed to him in the
green state, and owned daily by his eyes. After due consultation
with "Father," the bargain was concluded,--we to buy it at a
venture on the vine, green or ripe, our risk, and pay "what the
gentlemen pleased." It proved to be ripe; for we had had honest
experience in selecting this fruit.
Finding our boat safe in its harbor, under Uncannunuc Mountain,
with a fair wind and the current in our favor, we commenced our
return voyage at noon, sitting at our ease and conversing, or in
silence watching for the last trace of each reach in the river as
a bend concealed it from our view.
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