“Why, I never saw such a tree as that!” exclaimed Clara, in great surprise.

“Yes, dear,” replied her governess; “you have seen it, but you never thought of describing it to yourself in just this way.  When you saw it yesterday, it was coming forth in the spring, like morning in the east, arrayed in crimson and purple,’ but you just called it a pink tree.  It is much nearer red, however, than it is pink.”

“I’ve seen all the rest of the colors, too,” said Malcolm, “when we went out after nuts.”

“That is its autumn dress,” said Miss Harson, “although a small tree is often seen with no color on it but brilliant red.  But first we must see what it is like in spring and summer.  It is also called the scarlet, the white, the soft and the swamp maple, and the flowers, as you see from this specimen, are in whorls, or pairs, of bright crimson, in crowded bunches on the purple branches.  The leaves are in three or five lobes, with deep notches between, and some of them are very broad, while others are long and narrow.  The trunk of the red maple is a clear ashy gray, often mottled with patches of white lichens; and when the tree is old, the bark cracks and can be peeled off in long, narrow strips.”

“Is anything done with the bark?” asked Clara.

“Yes, it is used, with other substances, for dyeing, and also for making ink.  The sap, too, can be boiled down to sugar, but it is not nearly so rich as that of the proper sugar-maple.  The wood, which is very light-colored with a tinge of rose in it, is often made into common furniture, as it takes a fine polish and is easy to work with.  It is used, too, for building-purposes.  The early-summer foliage of the red maple is of a beautiful yellow green, and the young leaves are very delicate and airy-looking; but the graceful tree is in such a hurry to display her gay autumn colors that she will often put on a scarlet or crimson streamer in July or August.  One brilliantly-colored branch will be seen on a green tree, or the leaves of an entire tree will turn red while all the other trees around it are clothed in summer greenness.”

“Don’t you remember, Miss Harson,” said Edith, “the little tree that I thought was on fire and how frightened I was?”

“Yes, dear, I remember it very well—­an innocent little red maple that would put on its flame-colored dress when it should have been all in green, like its sisters; but it was too green at heart to be in a blaze.  This tree is often used for fuel, but it has to be cut down and dried first.  The reddening of the leaf generally begins at the veins and spreads out from them until the whole is tinted.  Sometimes it appears in spots, almost like drops of blood, on the green surface; but, come as it will, it is always beautiful.  It is said of the red maple that ’it stands among the occupants of the forest like Venus among the planets—­the brightest in the midst of brightness and the most beautiful in a constellation of beauty,’”