Malcolm read: 

“’And ye shall take you on the first day the boughs of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and the boughs of thick trees, and willows of the brook; and ye shall rejoice before the Lord your God seven days.’”

[Illustration:  LEAF OF WEEPING WILLOW.]

“A place called the ‘brook of the willows,’” added his governess, “is mentioned in Isaiah xv. 7, and this brook, according to travelers in Palestine, flows into the south-eastern extremity of the Dead Sea.  The willow has always been considered by the poets as an emblem of woe and desertion, and this idea probably came from the weeping of the captive Jews under the willows of Babylon.  The branches of the Salix Babylonica often droop so low as to touch the ground, and because of this sweeping habit, and of its association with watercourses in the Bible, it has been considered a very suitable tree to plant beside ponds and fountains in ornamental grounds, as well as in cemeteries as an emblem of mourning.”

“How much there is to remember about the willow!” said Clara, thoughtfully.  “I wonder if all the trees will be so interesting?”

“They are not all Bible trees,” replied Miss Harson.  “But the wise king of Israel found them interesting, for he ’spake of trees, from the cedar tree that is in Lebanon even unto the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.’”

CHAPTER II.

THE MAPLES.

“The pink trees next, I suppose,” said Malcolm, “since we have had the yellow ones?”

“Real pink trees?” asked Edith, with very wide-open eyes.

“No, dear;” replied her governess; “there are no pink trees, except when they are covered with bloom like the peach trees.  Malcolm only means the maples that we saw in blossom yesterday and thought of such a pretty color.  There are many varieties of the maple, which is always a beautiful and useful tree, but the red, or scarlet, maple is the very queen of the family.  It is not so large as are most of the others; but when a very young tree, its grace and beauty are noticeable among its companions.  It is often found in low, moist places, but it thrives just as well in high, dry ground; and it is therefore a most convenient tree.  Here is a very pretty description, Malcolm, in one of papa’s large books, that you can read to us.”

Malcolm read remarkably well for a boy of his age, and he always enjoyed being called upon in this way.

[Illustration:  THE RED MAPLE.]

Miss Harson pointed to these lines: 

“Coming forth in the spring, like morning in the east, arrayed in crimson and purple; bearing itself, not proudly but gracefully in modest green, among the more stately trees in summer; and ere it bids adieu to the season stepping forth in robes of gold, vermilion, crimson and variegated scarlet,—­stands the queen of the American forest, the pride of all eyes and the delight of every picturesque observer of nature, the red maple.”