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 chestnuts in the Apennines, and it was the favorite tree of the great painter Salvator Rosa, who spent much time studying the beautiful play of light and shade on its foliage.  The peasants make a gala-time of gathering and preparing the nuts.  A traveler, having penetrated the extensive forest which covers the Vallombrosan Apennines for nearly five miles, came unexpectedly upon those festive scenes, which are not unfrequent among the chestnut-range.  It was a holiday, and a group of peasants dressed in the gay and picturesque