copyright 1944; The Blakiston Company publishers, Philadelphia; Book Club Edition; smaller hardbound with forest green boards and gilt lettering on spine; book in good condition; dust jacket has tears.
 
Book Dedication -
"This book is dedicted to whosoever shall take Lebanon to his heart, and make her his own, and shall below inscribe his name, making this book his own:"
 
Plot -
While old Crease Fairgale had taught Lebanon all the rudiments and skills of living in harmony with nature, he had never told her a thing about love.  And when Sebastian Ratcliff came down from Baltimore to visit, she was caught off guard.  The attraction was mutual, but the solution was not simple.  Like all the other Ratcliffs he lived up to his promises, in particular a promise to Lucie Birdsong back in Baltimore...
 
Chapter 1 -
High in the reaches of wet sky a buzzard laxed, still-winged - an amazing queer thing for him to do in this cold drizzle.  All his kin were drooped high in a dead cypress crown, oiling their feathers drowsily, watching for any little death on earth below.
 
The tall, bleached cypress was a landmark - from mils in the swamp you could see it, like a milepost set on a sapling at a certain windy crossroad in the sky.
 
The birds were hushed in wet thickets...