AT NATURAL BRIDGE 225 



ladder ? At the arch, likewise, such auto- 

 graphers had been busy ever since Wash- 

 ington's day. I peeped into a crevice to 

 obtain a closer view of a tiny fern, and there 

 before me was a penciled name, invisible 

 till I came thus near to it. One of the meek 

 the writer must have been ; a lead pencil, 

 and so fine a hand ! Dumphy of New 

 Orleans. Why should I not second his 

 modest bid for immortality ? A good name 

 is rather to be chosen than great riches. By 

 all means let Dumphy of New Orleans be 

 remembered. 



As for Washington's " G. W.," the let- 

 ters are said to be still decipherable by those 

 who know exactly where to look and exactly 

 what to look for ; but I can testify to no- 

 thing of myself. I was told where the 

 initials were; one was much plainer than 

 the other, my informant said, which seemed 

 to imply that one of them, at least, was 

 more or less a matter of faith ; he would go 

 down with me some day and point them out ; 

 but the hour convenient to both of us never 

 came, and so, although I almost always spent 

 a minute or two in the search as I passed 

 under the arch, I never detected them or 



