the blessing of trees is not half known. The
wood of the lime is said never to be worm-eaten; it is very soft and
smooth and of a pale-yellow color. It is used for the famous Tunbridge
ware, and is called the carver's tree, because, as the poet says,

"'Smooth linden best obeys
The carver's chisel--best his curious work
Displays in nicest touches.'

"The fruits and flowers carved for the choir of St. Paul's cathedral in
London are done in lime-wood.

"So numerous are the purposes to which the bark, wood, leaves and
blossoms of the lime, or linden, tree can be applied that centuries ago
it was called the tree of a thousand uses. Linden is the name by which
it is always known on the continent of Europe, and there it is indeed a
magnificent tree, forming the most delightful avenues and branching
colonnades. One of the principal streets in Berlin is called 'Unter den
Linden.' In the Middle Ages, when the Swiss and the Flemings were always
struggling for liberty, it was their custom to plant a lime tree on the
field of battle, and many of these old trees still remain and have been
the subject of ballads and poetical effusions:

"'The stately lime, smooth, gentle, straight and fair.'"

"Is there any story about it, Miss Harson?"

"No," was the reply, "not much of a story; only descriptions of some
very large and very ancient trees. One of these, the old linden tree of
Soleure, in Switzerland, was spoken of by an English traveler two
hundred years ago as 'right noble and wondrous to behold. A bower
composed of its branches is capable of holding three hundred persons
sitting at ease; it has also a fountain set about with many tables
formed solely of the boughs, to which men ascend by steps; and all is
kept so accurately and thick that the sun never looks into it.'"

"It is just like a tent," said Malcolm, "it must be pleasant to sit by
the fountain. Wouldn't you like it, Miss Harson?"

"I am sure I should," replied his governess; "and I should also like to
see the famous lime tree of Zurich, the boughs of which will shelter
five hundred persons. At Augsburg, in Germany, feasts and weddings have
often been celebrated under the shade of some venerable limes that
branch out to an immense distance. In early times divine honors were
paid to them as emblems of immortality. And now," said Miss Harson, "the
last of these famous trees is a noble lime tree which grew on the farm
belonging to the ancestors of