A WOODLAND INTIMATE 22 AN OLD ROAD 45 CONFESSIONS OF A BIRD'S-NEST HUNTER 70 A GREEN MOUNTAIN CORN-FIELD 99 BEHIND THE EYE 114 A NOVEMBER CHRONICLE 121 NEW ENGLAND WINTER 140 A MOUNTAIN-SIDE RAMBLE 164 A PITCH-PINE MEDITATION 182 ESOTERIC PERIPATETICISM 189 BUTTERFLY PSYCHOLOGY 206 BASHFUL DRUMMERS 214 A RAMBLER'S LEASE. MY REAL ESTATE. Yet some did think that he had little business here.--WORDSWORTH. Every autumn the town of W---- sends me a tax-bill, a kindly remembrance for which I never fail of feeling grateful. It is pleasant to know that after all these years there still remains one man in the old town who cherishes my memory,--though it be only "this publican." Besides, to speak frankly, there is a measure of satisfaction in being reminded now and then of my dignity as a landed proprietor. One may be never so rich in stocks and bonds, government consols and what not, but, acceptable as such "securities" are, they are after all not quite the same as a section of the solid globe itself. True, this species of what we may call astronomic or planetary property will sometimes prove comparatively unremunerative. Here in New England (I know not what may be true elsewhere) there is a class of people whom it is common to hear gossiped about compassionately as "land poor." But, however scanty the income to be derived from it, a landed investment is at least substantial. It will never fail its possessor entirely. If it starve him, it will offer him a grave. It has the prime quality of permanence. At the very worst, it will last as long as it is needed. Railroads may be "wrecked," banks be broken, governments become bankrupt, and we be left to mourn; but when the earth departs we shall go with it. Yes, the ancient form of speech is correct,--land is _real_; as the modern phrase goes, translating Latin into Saxon, land is _the thing_; and though we can scarcely reckon it among the necessaries of life, since so many do without it, we may surely esteem it one of the least dispensable of luxuries. But I was beginning to speak of my tax-bill, and must not omit to mention a further advantage of real estate over other forms of property. It is certain not to be overlooked by the town assessors. Its proprietor is never shut up to the necessity of either advertising his own good fortune, or else submitting to pay less than his rightful share of the public expenses,--a merciful deliverance, for in such a strait, where either modesty or integrity must go to the wall, it is hard for human nature to be sure of itself.