178 FROM A NEW ENGLAND HILLSIDE. 



But never mind ; there are three or four 

 little puddles upon the floor of the porch, 

 large enough to reflect the branches waving 

 in the freshened breeze, a grumble is heard 

 now from one quarter and now from another 

 where heavy clouds cover most of the sky, 

 and &quot; we may be happy yet.&quot; 



Yesterday, when I parted from Blondin 

 after our cosy lunch in one of those quiet 

 little foreign places which you will find here 

 and there in old dwelling-houses upon the 

 cross streets in the metropolis, and took my 

 way to spend an hour at the club before 

 train time, the sunshine came almost as hot 

 from the blistering pavement of the dusty 

 and noisy street as from the heavens above. 

 But on an inner balcony at the club-house, 

 which I had quite to myself at this hour, 

 it was gratefully cool and quiet. My hour 

 passed all too quickly, and I soon found 

 myself amid the throng at the neighbouring 

 station. The bull reigns in the zodiac, and 

 the air is heavy and the pulse high as the 

 holiday crowds, flushed and flurried, gather 

 in the long trams to flee away from the 

 city for a breath of fresh country air. It 

 is not until the Bronx comes in sight, with 

 the appropriate accent of a blanchisscuse 

 upon the bank, with clean white garments 



