14 Bog-Trotting for OrcKids 



The faithful watchman, a modern Eckhart, sits before 

 the entrance of the Western Gateway of Hoosac Moun- 

 tain, and warns the people against entering through 

 this portal to the greater world that lies beyond. It 

 is as if he washed to guard these children of the mar- 

 ble highlands from the risks attendant upon the wild 

 whirl of life beyond these quiet hills. 



The sun was setting as I left him, calm but alert, at 

 his post of duty, trimming and lighting his colored 

 lanterns for signals of danger or safety to the approach- 

 ing trains. Climbing up by the path which passes the 

 little red cottage on the crest of the hill on the north 

 bank of the chasm, I returned leisurely homeward, 

 winding over the hillsides, far above Aurora's Lake, 

 then down along the borders of the swamp-lands. In 

 the crevices of rock were creeping colonies of the Com- 

 mon Polypody {Polypodium vulgare). Along the edges 

 of this bog are still seen the primeval stumps of the 

 pine and hemlock forests, which clothed these hillsides 

 when only the Redmen dwelt and hunted among these 

 wildernesses. 



In May and early June these decaying stumps are 

 usually draped with Painted Trillium and the delicate 

 vines of Gaultheria and the Creeping Snowberry, while 

 the Arbutus trails about luxuriantly, covering up the 

 ruins of years. 



