206 HIGHWAYS Al^D BYWAYS. 



them were " David and Dora " who seemed to see lit- 

 tle but each other's eyes. He, guarding her from the 

 perils of the road with an arm about her waist, while 

 she rested a hand lovingly on his knee. Some bare- 

 footed children were traveling towards the city with 

 little baskets of wild strawberries to sell. ISTothing on 

 the way showed more plainly its " ear marks " than a 

 country school-house with its well-trodden grounds and 

 little stone play-houses about it. By the road were 

 holes in the dirt where the smaller children had made 

 mud pies. The sides of the house had been whittled 

 and marked by jack-knives, and a panel was broken 

 out of the front door. Through this open door rows of 

 children could be seen sitting on hard seats — harder 

 than common these long summer days, with everything 

 tempting them to come outside. The little schoolmam, 

 with book and ruler in hand, stood before a class. Ev- 

 idently she had a morning caller, as a woman wearing 

 a bonnet sat in a chair near the door. Was she there 

 to note the progress of her young hopefuls, or did she 

 come to remonstrate against some chastisement for a 

 school offense ? It is high time, Mr. Commissioners, 

 for both teachers and scholars to be out of school en- 

 J03dng the summer vacation. 



All along the way we heard robins singing, and as we 

 passed meadows, bobolinks would start up out of the 

 grass, flutter across the meadows or alight on telegraph 

 poles, all the time singing us a welcome to the country. 



The most conspicuous bird at this season is the vesper 

 sparrow, or grass finch. Although a field bird, he has 



