secure inside this bower-work cell , i worked my eye close up to the peephole that i had just discovered ; the edges of the hole were surrounded by interesting orange leaves , many of which were knotted and gnarled into various nautilus or snaillike forms ; the morning light burnished the outer shells of these curled leaves and intensified the crisp shadows of the folded undersides ; the wind , tossing the tree limbs about , set the whorled leaves bobbing and shaking ; though the shapes of the leaves were pitifully deformed when seen up close , in the blurred sunlight and with the limbs heaving in the wind , the effect of all those blighted leaves was to mimic the scrolls and curlicues on an ornate edge of a golden frame ; it certainly seemed that a clever gardener had clipped the leaves to make this shining window on the world .