“There’s Ginseng in it somewhere,” laughingly commented papa.
“Ginseng?” cried the children. “What’s that?”
“The name of a plant in the wood. The word is supposed to be of Chinese origin. The Iroquois called the root garentoqucu, literally, legs and thighs separated. The plant belongs to the genus Pauax, and it is a great medicine with the Chinese. We export it in large quantities, but northern Asia grows it as well as we.”
“And there is some in our wood?”
“Yes, I saw some yesterday near the tobacco-plant bed.”
“Can we go for some as soon as we have finished breakfast?”
“Yes, and I will go with you. A walk through the wood will be good for us; I feel like I had slept a hundred years and been one of Tennyson’s characters in The Day Dream.”
“And I,” said the artist, “will take my pencil and sketching block.”
Six plants were found, all having good long roots.
“What you have now would cost you a quarter of a dollar if you were buying it,” said papa.