WIND-ANEMONES.

THE FISHPOND.
The only spot about the Chace where the wind-anemones grew was in a small detached copse of ash-poles nearly a mile from the great woods.
Between the stoles, which were rather far apart, the ground was quite covered in spring with dark-green vegetation, so that it was impossible to walk there without treading down the leaves of bluebells, anemones, and similar woodland plants.

But if you wished to see the anemones in their full beauty it was necessary to visit the copse frequently; for if you forgot it, or delayed a fortnight, very likely upon returning you would find that their fleeting loveliness was over.

Their slender red stems rise but a few inches, and are surrounded with three leaves; the six white petals of the cup-shaped flower droop a little and have a golden centre.

Under the petal is a tinge of purple, which is sometimes faintly visible through it.