with his mind pleasantly vacant, lulled by the monotonous
miles of road flickering through his vision,
the shifting forms of distant peaks, virid vistas,
nearby trees and bushes, all saturated in the slumberous,
yellow, summer heat.

Gradually the aspect of their surroundings
changed, the forms of the mountains grew bolder,
streams raced whitely over broken, rocky beds; the
ranks of the forest closed up, only a rare trail broke
the road. The orderly farmhouses, the tilled fields,
disappeared; a rare cabin, roughly constructed of
unbarked logs, dominated a parched patch, cut from
the heart-breaking tangle of the wild, a thread of
smoke creeping from a precarious chimney above
the far, unbroken canopy of living green. Children
with matted hair, beady-eyed like animals, in bag-like
slips, filled the doorways; adults, gaunt-jawed
and apathetic, straightened momentarily up from
their toil with the stubborn earth.

At the sharpest ascent yet encountered Gordon
again left the stage. Buckley Simmons recalled a
short cut through the wood, and noisily entreated
Lettice Hollidew to accompany him.

"It's awfully pretty," he urged, "and easy; no
rocks to cut your shoes. I'll go ahead with a stick
to look out for snakes."

She shuddered charmingly at the final item, and
vowed she would not go a step. But he persisted,

[[25]]

p024 _ -chap- _ toc-1 _ p025w _ toc-2 _ +chap+ _ p026

v?