[21] Ezek. xxvii. 5.

[22] 2 Sam. vi. 5.

“‘The beams of our house are cedar, and our rafters of fir,’” read Malcolm.

“In Kings it is said, ’So Hiram gave Solomon cedar trees and fir trees, according to his desire[23],’ and these trees were to be used for the very house, or palace, of which the Jewish king speaks in his Song.  Evergreens are often mentioned in the Bible, and in that beautiful Christmas chapter, the sixtieth of Isaiah, you will find the fir tree again.—­Read the thirteenth verse, Clara.”

[23] I Kings v. 10.

“’The glory of Lebanon shall come unto thee, the fir tree, the pine tree, and the box together, to beautify the place of my sanctuary; and I will make the place of my feet glorious.’—­What is ’the glory of Lebanon,’ Miss Harson?”

“The cedar of Lebanon, dear; and we will now turn our attention to that and the other cedars.”

CHAPTER XXI.

THE CEDARS.

“The cypress tribe,” said Miss Harson, “differ from the pines, or Coniferae, by not having their fruit in a true cone, but in a roundish head which consists of a small number of scales, sometimes forming a sort of berry.  One of the most common of this family is the arbor vitae, or tree of life—­a tree so small as to look like a pointed shrub, and more used for fences than for ornament.  An arbor-vitae hedge, you know, divides our flower garden from the kitchen-garden and goes all the way down to the brook.”

“I like the smell of it,” said Clara.  “Don’t you, Miss Harson?”

[Illustration:  SIBERIAN ARBOR VITAE]

“Yes,” was the reply, “there is something very fresh and pleasant about it; and when well kept, as John is sure to keep ours, it makes a beautiful hedge.  As a tree it has been known to reach forty or fifty feet in height, with a trunk ten feet in circumference.  The leaves are arranged in four rows, in alternately opposite pairs, and seem to make up the fan-like branchlets.  These branchlets look like parts of a large compound, flat leaf.  The bark is slightly furrowed, smooth to the touch, and very white when the tree stands exposed.  The wood is reddish, somewhat odorous, very light, soft and fine-grained.  In the northern part of the United States and in Canada it holds the first place for durability.”

“I thought the cypress was a flower,” said Malcolm.

“So one kind of cypress is,” replied his governess—­“the blossom of an airy-looking and beautiful creeper; but the name also belongs to a family of trees.  The white cedar, or cypress, is a very graceful tree which generally grows in swamps.  ’It is entirely free from the stiffness of the pines, and to the spiry top of the poplar it unites the airy lightness of the hemlock.  The trunk is straight and tall, tapering very gradually, and toward the top there are short irregular branches, forming a small but beautiful head, above which the leading shoot waves like a slender plume.’  The leaves are very small and scale-like, with sharp points, and grow in four rows on the ends of the branchlets, giving them the appearance of large compound leaves.  The wood is very durable, and is used for many building-purposes.  It is generally of a faint rose-color, and always keeps its aromatic odor.”