A SUMMER DRIVE IN THE LAKE COUNTRY. 229 



vided you bring them with you." I think it was Wil- 

 liam Black, the novelist, who said, " When you have 

 dined on ham and eggs and whiskey the night before, 

 to breakfast on ham and eggs and tea is a great relief 

 the morning after," but with such a su]:>per and tea as 

 were given us last night, a breakfast like Black's dinner 

 would have been welcome by at least one member of 

 the party. 



Pretty early the folloAving morning we paid the bill, 

 which was a round one, and went on our way weak, but 

 rejoicing. Temperance indeed is a good thing, but sad 

 as it may seem, truth compels the traveler to chronicle 

 the fact that excellent temperance hotels are even fewer 

 and further between than angels' visits. 



In contrast to this ' inn,' I remember another old hotel, 

 or country tavern as it was long called, which we have 

 always found so full of real comfort and good living, 

 that I approach it with a kind of hungry expectancy. 

 It was one hot July morning, an hour or so before noon, 

 that we first came in sight of the little hamlet in which 

 this house stands. It was more country than village. 

 A large brook of clear, shining water, overhung with 

 thick shade trees, ran along one side of the principal 

 street. A long rambling hotel with broad verandas, 

 and extensive outlying barns and sheds, attracted 

 my attention. An old couple, landlord and landlady, 

 sat on the veranda in large rocking chairs. They 

 greeted us with a cheerful good-morning as we drove 

 up in front of the house, and to the request for dinner, 

 the kindly faced old lady said that " they had nearly 



