n chestnuts?"

Edith asked if there was to be a story, but she did not complain when
Miss Harson thought not, only an account of a very large tree; for the
children always felt quite sure that there would be something which they
would like to hear.

* * * * *

The evening was damp, and Clara said that, the schoolroom looked like a
mixture of summer and winter. The fire was both pleasant and
comfortable, but there were lilacs and tulips and hyacinths and plenty
of wild flowers in vases and baskets; the leaves were all out on the
trees by the windows, and the grass was like velvet.

"One of the largest trees in the world, if not the largest," said Miss
Harson, "is a chestnut tree on the side of Mount Etna, in Sicily, which
abounds with chestnut trees of giant proportions and remarkable beauty.
It is called 'The Chestnut Tree of a Hundred Horses,' and this title is
said to have originated in a report that a queen of Aragon once took
shelter under its branches attended by her principal nobility, all of
whom found refuge from a violent storm under the spreading boughs of the
tree. At one time it was supposed that the tree really consisted of a
clump of several united, but this is not the case; for on digging away
the earth the root was found entire, and at no great depth. Five
enormous branches rise from the trunk, the outside surface of each being
covered with bark, while on the inside is none. The verdure and the
support of the tree thus depend on the outer bark alone. The intervals
between the branches are of various extent, one of them being sufficient
to allow two carriages to drive abreast. In the middle cavity--or what
is called the hollow--of the tree a hut has been built for the use of
persons employed in collecting and preserving the fruit. They dry the
chestnuts in an oven, and then make them into various conserves for
sale. A whole caravan of men and animals were once accommodated in the
enclosure, and also a flock of sheep folded there. The age of this
prodigious tree must be very great indeed. It belongs to the tribe
which bears sweet, or edible, chestnuts, that form an agreeable article
of food. The foliage is rich, shadowy and beautiful.

"The wood of the chestnut is much used in England for hop-poles, and old
houses in London are floored or wainscoted with it. The beautiful roof
of Westminster Abbey is made of chestnut wood.

"There are magnificent forests of Spanish ches